The Black Dog
by ScriptGenius12
Summary: Six years after Remina, a real monster comes to Succubus Village.
1. The Black Dog

**_6 AR- After Remina_**

 ** _He did not know how he got here. One moment he was dead, just after finally having Griffith in his grasp. The next, he woke up alive and healed. He took a big breath of air in, surveying his surroundings. His armor was on the ground next to him, and he quickly put it on. He found himself in a misty forest. Honestly, he was expecting an eternity in hell with the way he lived his life, not heaven. Than again, this may be hell, and he wouldn't be surprised if the Godhand were waiting for him to drop his guard. Hesitantly, he walked forward, looking for signs of life. Five minutes later, he turned around a tree into a clearing._**

 ** _What he see's makes him pause damn near instantly._**

 ** _In front of him are what appears to be a squad of apostles. Female apostles. Of course, all the female apostles he's seen in his life were ugly hideous things, not these entities of allure and sex. They appear to have won a battle with a group of human knights. Instead of eating the men alive, (The usual apostle victory celebration) they are, to be blunt, fucking the men's brains out. He tilts his head, taking in the sight. That is when the monstrous women turn to stare at him. He stares back. For five seconds, the clearing remains perfectly still. Then, a sadistic grin forms on his face._**

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 ** _He decides that he is definitely in heaven as he stands over the shredded, torn remains of the monstrous women, covered in their blood. In his hands, he holds a massive weapon. It was thick, heavy, and soaked in the blood of the women, and the men who could not get out of his way during his frenzy. Through the psychotic haze of the battle, he was able to learn a few things about his new home._**

 ** _"N-N-No please your Goddess wouldn't have you be so cruel-ACK!" one of the monster women pleads before he soullessly rips her in two._**

 ** _"I-I-If you let me live I'll let you feel really good-GAH!" another one whimpers before he impales her on a tree branch._**

 ** _"H-H-Hey if you want to I can help you meet the Monster Lord she'd pay you reallywellohdarkgdodsno-" the last survivor begs as he beats her to death with her own tail, a black limb with a spade at the end of it._**

 ** _He then stands in the middle of the blood stained clearing, blood on his muscled form and a smile on his face, before he picks up a map he took from one of the dead men. He scans it, before finding a location exactly to his liking. He honestly doesn't know why he ended up in this insane, bizarre world, but he now he doesn't care. After all, with a place like "Succubus Village", why should he care?_**

 ** _After all, life is a waste._**

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 _Ako the Succubus ran forward, tears in the teenage succubae's eyes as her long black hair trailed behind her._

 _Smoke and flame obscured her vision as Succubus Village burned._

 _It was all so sudden. This morning, she was chatting with her fellow succubi, thinking up ideas to snatch up cute young boys, when everything went wrong._

 _An explosion was heard, and she turned around. Her jaw dropped at the sight. A runaway wagon was flying down the street with no driver, as though it had been pushed down a hill. It was on fire, and on top of it were spikes impaled with naked, mutilated dead bodies._

 _"What in the Dark Gods name-"_

 _"I recognize some of those ladies-_

 _"We sent them to search for human livestock, but they've been gone for five days-_

 _"Did the Church of Ilias do this-"_

 _But Ako just sat there staring in shock and horror as the wagon barreled down through town into the center._

 _Right into the Town Hall. A thunderous explosion shook the ground and sent everyone falling to the ground, as ash and soot was spread everywhere. Ako coughed as she and her friends got up._

 **"** ** _Have I gotten your attention yet?"_**

 _Everyone in town turned to see the source of the voice, the clear instigator of the attack. Calmly walking forward was a human. Outwardly, at least. But Ako took a second longer to look, and she found her first impression rapidly changing. He was a massive behemoth, far taller than any human had the right to be like. She remembers muscled men among those captured by the village in the past._

 _The abomination in front of her made those men look like shota's._

 _This man's muscles were hard looking, cruel, and bulging, like he could snap her in half just by flexing. He wore black armor that covered his chest, back, and shoulders while leaving his arms and legs exposed. However, the blood covering his similarly heavy legs made it clear that the usual monster approach to attacking would be met with swift punishment. He had a cruel smile on his face, a sadistic grin that reminded her of the look a succubus would have as she toyed with her prey._

 _She had that look on her face at times too._

 _His face was obscured by a helm resembling that of a carnivorous animal, like a wolf or a bear. While she couldn't see his eyes at this range, she could tell with a start that he was looking at HER in particular. What truly, however, drew, her attention was the man's weapon._

 _It was thick, heavy, dark, and absolutely soaked with red blood. She noticed some green and blue blood too, showing that this man had been killing far more than just succubi. She shuddered._

 _That's when three nearby guard succubi finally made their attack. They leaped at him, blades outstretched as they prepared for a lethal assault. The fact that they were trying to outright kill him instead of sucking him dry made the danger of the situation more clear than ever._

 _It was not enough._

 _The man swung his gigantic weapon ONCE. In less than a second, all three guards were dead, their bodies mutilated beyond recognition as they smashed and pasted into a wall, through a window, and a tree respectively. The Beast in the form of a man kept his eyes on her all this time, his cruel smile widening._

 _A ring of fire began to surround the village, smoke hiding available escape routes._

 **"** ** _Finding that wagon filled with explosives wasn't easy, nor was dragging those dead bodies around, but the looks on your faces are so damn worth it."_**

 _Amidst the chaos of the horrifying declaration, Ako finally found her voice. "Wh-What do you want!" she stammered out in fear._

 _The man grinned before stating his one and only demand._

 ** _"Run."_**

 _She did so. They all did. It was not enough._

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 _Fear overtook as she ran through the burning village. She had not worn any clothes today, and she was regretting that decision as hot ash struck her every few seconds. She smelt blood as the evil man ripped and tore at his victims. Some succubi tried to fight him. They were crushed into red dust. Others simply ran. He simply responded by throwing whatever he could at them. Rocks, branches, even other succubi. The lucky ones died from the shear impact. The others met a curb stomp to the skull or a black club to the spine. Ako ran forward as fast as she could, the screams of her dying friends and the laughter of the black dog of death behind her. She selfishly hoped that he would remain distracted while she ran to the home of the only one she thought could help._

 _She was at the place now. She forcibly kicked the door open, the heat of the growing fire on her back. She called out. "Chief! The village is under attack!"_

 _At the top of the stairs in the Chief's house, yours truly finally appeared. The Succubus Chief, despite her high position, wore a humble red soothsayers outfit, one popular with many succubi. She had blonde hairs and red eyes, rather common traits for most succubi. She had a classic witches hat, and had a bust that made Ako feel envious, especially compared to her own rather flat che-Now wasn't the time to be thinking about that!_

 _The Chief nodded, completely serious. "I know, I saw everything through my upstairs window. I managed to contact some of our fellow succubi with a spell. They know now to avoid this place. It's up to them to restart the village at another place. After we escape, we'll meet them there." Ako was dumbstruck. "Can't we just take this guy out?" The Chief sighed, clearly unhappy about the situation too. "My niece, I don't think any of us can take this man on in our current state. We'll need to regroup at the new village, retrain our warriors, and rebuild our numbers before we can hope to fight him. We'll call the monster lord if we have too. Right now, fighting that freak is a suicide mission." Ako accepted this with hesitation. She was about to speak up when she heard the worst possible thing she could have hard in this situation. Someone knocked on the entrance door._

 ** _"Little pig, little pig, let me the FUCK IN BEFORE I BLOW THIS HOUSE THE FUCK DOWN."_**

 _The Chief's eyes widened."Ako, get up here quickly!" She didn't have to be told twice. She ran up and followed the Chief up another flight of stairs into a room. She heard the house shake as the entrance door was blown apart by a tremendous strike. Mad laughter followed her as the Chief desperately locked the door. The Chief got a confident look on her face. "He can't get past the door enchantments-"_

 _A heavy fist punched through the door. The grinning face of death peered inside. The Chief opened another door, and Ako quickly followed her into a big hallway just as the black hound at the door finally broke it down. The Chief finally opened another door, and as she and Ako ran inside as the dark murderer calmly walked towards them in the hallway._

 **"Game Over Bitch."** _He confidently taunted. The Chief pressed a switch on the wall, and heavy boulders dropped from the ceiling onto the man, who just smiled as he was buried. The Chief triple locked the door behind the both of them. They panted. Ako worked up the nerve to talk. "That oughta hold him down for a good half hour-" the killers black weapon pierced through the door, knocking it down. Ako turned around- and saw no other doors to escape through. A sinking feeling enveloped her heart as she backed away, tears in her eyes._

 _At the age of sixteen, she didn't want to die._

 _The Chief defiantly placed herself in front of Ako, ready to fight. The Black Dog of death came to a stop in front of them, completely unharmed by the boulder trap. Than, to the surprise of both, he tossed his weapon to the side, embedding it in a wall. He then spoke._

 ** _"One of your little friends promised to make me feel good if I let her go."_** _He held a bloody fist._ _ **"I didn't take up her offer, as you can see. However, you look quite hot, Witchy. So, make me feel good, and I'll let you go."**_ _He tilted his head. "_ _ **After all, aren't you succubi? I'm sure you'd enjoy this."**_ _The Chief hesitantly stepped forwards. A thought crept into her mind. "He doesn't seem to know about critical ecstasy. If I can make him come (shudder), we should have a chance to escape. I'll just close my eyes and imagine I'm doing a cute shota." Hesitating, she got on her knees, and she undid his belt. That's when she saw IT. His member was red and LONG. But what really gave it away were the long spikes that lined it. Immediately, she attempted to withdraw, but he grabbed her head. "_ _ **Not so fast, girly."**_ _Suddenly, his horrific member shot forward like a piston, and then everything was_ _ **RED**_

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 _Ako stood numb with horror as the tentacle like spiny organ impaled the Chief through the eye and exited out the back end of the skull. The organ flicked the leader off at the wall like a tentacle, and she crumbled to the ground. It then turned to her, and at an opening at the end of the reproductive organ a spiky ball opened up in a grotesque mockery of a blooming flower._

 _The_ _man_ _monster turned to her, a psychotic smile on his face as his intentions became clear. He took a single step forward. Like an animal, she became consumed by fear. She desperately spread her wings and dodged to the left, flying forward in desperation._

 _He grabbed her in the time it took to blink. Forcing her up against a wall, he grabbed her arms in each hand and held her up, tears of fear running down her face as she felt his monstrous member slide up her legs._

 _She saw her sheer terror and fear reflected in his cold eyes._

 _She has seen a similar look in human livestock._

 _Such cruel, bitter irony for a succubus to meet this fate._

 ** _"I'm guessing this isn't how things are normally around here, eh?"_** _He taunted._ _ **"For you, this day was the most horrific event in your rapidly shortening life.**_ _He grinned._ _ **"But for me, it was just another day of enjoyment and excitement."**_

 _Laughing and chortling, Wyald proceeded to do what he did best._

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 _Five minutes later, he walked out of the room, a skip in his steps, a smile on his face, and blood all over his legs. Wyald hefted his heavy black wooden club over his shoulder as he exited the Chief's house, searching for new victims._

 _In this world of monster girls, Wyald was truly at home._

 _By the time he was finished, the entire population of Succubus Village was destroyed, save one._

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The eight year old succubus ran as far as she could, holding onto her scarf. She could remember mommies last words before the scary man got her. _"Run Alma! Run as fast as you can! Run until you can't see this village behind you anymore!"_ And so little the last one ran and ran and ran until her legs couldn't take it anymore. Stopping by a tree, the young succubus took a moment to breath. That was when the sheer enormity of what had happened finally caught up to her. Pressing her hands to her face, she sobbed uncontrollably, having lost everything. She seemed to cry for hours, because when she was done, it was night outside and the moon shined in the sky.

 _"Why are you crying?"_

The survivor immediately looked up. For one terrifying moment, she thought that the evil man had found her. Luckily, this was not the case for in front of her was another girl. She was wearing a simple brown tunic that had seen better days. She had pointy green ears, along with similarly colored skin. Her green claws, tail, and scaly feet instantly revealing the girls draconic heritage. Slung over the girl's back like a sword was a tree branch. However, to Alma the most striking feature of the young dragonkin was her golden eyes, and her fiery red hair. The girl tilted her head and spoke.

 _"I'm heading to a place called Gold Volcano. Care to join me? We can talk on the way."_ Rubbing her cheeks and sniffling, she got up and joined the girl. As they walked to their distant destination, they began to make conversation with each other. First, they spoke each others names.

 _"Alma Elma"_

 _"Granberia"_

- **END**

 **AN: This is not over. The story continues.**


	2. Exposition with Ubik and Conrad

Exposition with Ubik, Conrad, and one very special guest: Part 1

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Ubik, the Godhand of Knowledge, knew that this was the best chance that he had to put his scheme into action. None of the other Godhand's knew what he was up to, which made waiting until they were all distracted all the more tense.

Conrad was off sleeping in a pile of rats, Void was hard at work making new behelits, Femto was busy going over his plans for world conquest, and Slan herself was off presiding over some random pagan ritual somewhere. After looking back to make sure he hadn't been followed, he flew into the space Slan usually resided in during her "Off Work Time". He carefully maneuvered his small form around the massive tentacle beasts that resided in her own private part of the Nexus, all while keeping his eyes on his destination. Finally, he reached what he was looking for. Right next to the hole where she usually slept in was a brown chest with a lock. Of course, he knew better. Ubik produced a bloody key from his mouth, and he walked towards the chest, holding the key up. " _Now I will finally know the secret she's been hiding from us all this time!"_ He thought, a ghoulish grin growing on his face. Placing the key in the lock, he turned it. With a click the lock fell to the ground. Ubik opened the chest without any hesitation.

His eyes widened as he saw what lied within the chest.

"I finally did it! I managed to locate Slan's legendary private weed stash!"

He greedily reached inside. If Ubik had any idea about the consequences that would result from this action…..

…..He probably would have done it way sooner.

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"-half an hour later, Femto was flying around calling himself "The Hawkman", Zodd was shouting at some statues while demanding that they kneel before him, and, I only vaguely recall doing this, but I had apparently invited most of the apostles from the eclipse (Those not killed by the Black Swordsman) to the Nexus. They probably expected another big sacrifice, not-HAHA"

Ubik laughed as he smacked the table that he was sitting at, still clearly under the effects of the drugs. "Hrm" Conrad, Godhand of filth, grunted neutrally, as he sat at the poker table, calmly handing out behelit chips for the game between him and Ubik. Ubik attempted to compose himself, and then he continued on "They probably weren't expecting all that, uh, stuff and things lying around, but nevertheless they took their chances. So, it was all pretty fun thanks to the weed and the other assorted drugs. Everyone was actually pretty calm and chill. Hell, we were about to form a conga line with yours truly at the front, when fucking Femto crashed into the mountain of Cocaine he had set up earlier." Ubik paused. "You know Conrad, I can't believe you slept through this all of this-

"Weren't we playing a game?" Conrad rumbled. "Ah yes, how is the score?" Ubik commented, turning to the one holding the scoreboard. Currently, they were both tied.

Donovan, the one holding the scoreboard, looked up. "I'm getting payed for this, right?"

"No." Ubik casually said before getting back to the game. Donovan shrugged. At least he wasn't going to be in the vortex for the next few hours.

Ubik then continued his explanation. "So, Femto had a….unique reaction to the cocaine, you could say. It had the effect of a laxative. So, I remember laughing while all of the other apostles were running away from the literal tornadoes of shit-

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"-until I realized that all that shit was flying at me too"

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"-thank causality, Slan arrived to the rescue with a flood of troll blood she had snatched from Qlipoth-

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"Femto opened up a hole in the floor so that everyone could finish puking their guts out. Just when it was finally over, Void showed up, and let me tell you, he was fucking pissed-

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"And when he charged at me, screaming obscenities, that's when I realized that he was under the influence of the bath salts." Ubik lifted his glasses up, revealing the two bloody holes where his eyes used to be. " I barely made it out after he ate my eyes off of my face." Ubik scratched his head. "Also, he was saying something about how the vortex had been disrupted and how some souls had escaped and it was all my fault." Ubik laughed. "Maybe I did do that in my drug induced insanity, or maybe he just hallucinated. Luckily for me, Zodd, who was under the belief that it was "Football season" (Clearly some Illusionary idea created by the drugs.)", tackled him, which allowed me to run away here. My guess is that at this point, all that running around earlier during that literal shit storm must have spread the cocaine and the other hard drugs into the air, because everyone began to attack each other. So now we have until the drugs wear off before everyone (Or at least Void) comes after me for embarrassing them. My best choice is to lay low here and hope that their memories will be fucked when the drugs wear off." Ubik leaned back in his chair. "Of course there's my blindness, but I'm sure you will be willing to help me come up with a good enough explanation."

"No"

"Worth a try at least. Well, I've lived for hundreds of years, so the loss of my eyes isn't much. In fact, it only happened because another Godhand attacked me. Anyone else would fail." Suddenly, a calm smirk settled onto the small entities face. "You know, since we have the time, I might as well tell you a secret that few others know. The secret of those who came before us."

Conrad blankly stared at Ubik. "I already know this story. I too have been a part of the Godhand for hundreds of years." Ubik waved his hand at Conrad. "Well, you slept through half of the initiation process anyways. Besides, I'm also doing this for the sake of our guest here." Ubik pointed to Donovan, who put the scoreboard on the ground, having become genuinely interested. Ubik floated above the table. He began to speak.

"You see, The other four and I are actually the second set of Godhands. In other words, we are the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth Godhands respectively." Ubik began to smile as he settled into his familiar role as the master of exposition. "Before we took their places, there was the first five angels."

"The first of the Godhand."

"It all started during the rein of King Gaiseric, or as we know him now…."

"The Skull Knight. But this is not his story."

-END

To Be Continued


	3. Halloween Special: Elsewhere

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 **The Forest of Spirits**

 _"Oh, I've never seen a boy fairy before-"_

 _"How cute-"_

 _"Can I see your-"_

 _"_ I'm being surrounded on all sides! Do something!" Puck nervously shouted as he found himself cornered in the middle of the forest by a growing crowd of female fairies, all of them interested by the new arrival. "I'm an Elf, dammit..." he muttered under his breath as their numbers increased.

"You'll be fine." his armored ally casually quipped, dodging a sweeping vine from the monster he was fighting.

With a quick swing, he severed the vine, leaving the limb to thrash on the ground as it spurted green blood.

Despite the injury, the beast continued forward.

It was a horrific abomination. In it's center, the dead corpse of a blond woman served as a core for the monster. It did not show any sign of a reaction to the battle around it, increasing the unnerving feeling coming from it. Her body was covered by vines that sprung off into larger vines that acted as attack tentacles for the creature. Some of these vines had large flowers at their ends, weapons meant for sucking the life force of whoever fell into their grips. It was monster meant for spreading terror and agony, a hulking mass of plant and human life.

To the inhabitants of the forest, it was a living nightmare.

To Guts, it was a light snack.

The Black Swordsman stared down the approaching monster as it walked on top of it's own severed limbs and flowers. Even though all of its tentacles had been amputated by the Dragonslayer, it still walked forward, never changing it's expression as blood spewed from it's now useless arms. It was weaponless, bleeding, and weakened, yet it still refused to stop fighting.

Guts nodded. He could respect that dedication.

He swung the Dragonslayer downwards.

The Chimera Dryad fell, it's two halves falling on either side of the berserker. With the death of the humans host's brain, the plant half of the chimera rapidly wasted away.

A calm feeling settled across the Forest of Spirits.

A few seconds later, the fairies of the forest began to erupt in applause, glad to finally be free of the terrible threat. They eagerly danced in the sky, finally giving Puck the chance to flee. He eagerly flew into Guts satchel, and he did not come out.

Guts flicked the blood off his blade as he took stock of his situation. Ever since he and his travelling party had ended up here two months ago, things had gone surprisingly well. They had something of a guess on how they had gotten here, but they were not to sure. They clearly remembered what they were doing beforehand, however.

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 **THEN**

Guts remembered the pure joy he felt when Casca was restored to her normal self. When he finally got around to asking her what she wanted to do, she was quite clear. " _I want to kill him Guts. I want to kill Griffith."_ While a part of him just wanted to settle down on Elfhelm, another part of him agreed with her completely. Of course, as usual, he didn't get much choice in the matter.

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 **"STRUGGLER"** _The Skull Knight intoned, having rode in through the front doors of the dining hall. Guts stared at him with a serious expression. When the Skull Knight showed up, it usually meant that things were about to get grave. "What do you have for me this time old man?" Guts calmness contrasted with the rest of the men and women in the hall, who immediately went either on their guard (In the case of Azan, Roderick, and Serpico.) or freaking out (Puck and Magnifico.) Ignoring them, the dead emperor continued speaking. **"THE TIME FOR ACTION HAS COME. THE TIME FOR ME TO FIGHT ALONGSIDE YOU HAS BEGUN. IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO FINALLY KNOW THE HAWKS TRUE PLAN."** And just like that, the Skull Knight ended his neutral vigil and revealed Griffith's true plan to the assembled guests. When he was finished, it became clear to everyone there that idly standing by was not an option at all._

 _Thinking back on it, it was obvious. Ruling over all of Midland was not enough for the White Hawk. He could only be satisfied when everything was his, and his alone. Guts cracked his neck as he walked inside of the little house he and Casca had made into their home. Pulling open a closet, he beheld the Dragonslayer and the Berserker Armor._

 _ **The Beast inside of him howled**._

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 _Time passed quickly. His days were spent training nonstop with his comrades. His nights were spent with Casca as they spent their time strategizing...for the first half hour. The rest of their time was spent passionately making up for the years they had lost._

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 _More time passed._

 _He remembered more events as life passed by._

 _He remembers joining the alliance against Griffith. The remaining human armies, Chuder, Yith, and the Bakiraka._

 _He remembers seeing various astral beings joining the fight. Gnomes, centaurs, water spirits, fire spirits, and other innumerable inhumans._

 _He remembers reuniting with Rickert, who had grown up to become the leader of a Kushan Asssassin clan._

 _He remembers the united armies finally laying siege on Falconia. From then on, everything was just a blur of blood and guts._

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 **HELL**

 _He has finally done it. Clad in the Berserker Armor, Tte blood of countless apostles stains his blade. Apostles that would have given him serious trouble even during his Black Swordsman days were easily slain. Now, he has finally found his object of his hatred._

 _Griffith stands before him in this valley of skulls, the valley were the Black Hawk first rose._

 _The Hawk of Darkness is standing in his black demonic form, as tall and muscled as any apostle._

 _Griffith's face rapidly switches between anger and hate. The earlier attack, and the fact that he might lose is slowly destroying his sanity. By contrast, Guts is calm, even though the helm of the Berserker armor is over his face._

 _This time, he believes that he can win._

 _The Dragonslayer ran forward, ready to end Griffith's retched life._

 _He rushes forward at Griffith, his sword posed to end the unearthly ones existence. Suddenly, his entire body was stopped inches in front of Griffith, the Hawk's arm outstretched. Just like that day he fought the Count. Griffith makes a motion to send Guts flying through the air-_

 _But Guts stays firmly in place, fighting against the power. Griffith's calm face begins to slowly undo._

 _This time, the Struggler is not fighting for revenge. He is fighting for Casca, and Farnese, and Serpico, and Isidro, and Puck, and Schierke, along with countless others. This time, the 100 Man Slayer has many more things to lose._

 _He then remembers when, just before the battle, how Schierke had whispered into his ear, telling him about the signs of life she felt coming from Casca's belly._

 _As though he was never restrained to begin with, Guts brought his hulking sword down upon Griffith's out stretched arm. In less than a second, the limb has been cut into five different pieces. Before the pieces hit the ground, he has thrust his_ _sword into Griffith. At this point, the Hawk of Darkness finally starts screaming._

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 _The Berserker charged forwards, Griffith still impaled on his sword. His relentless charge sends them smashing through mountains of behelits, into stray war demons wandering around the red dimension. Finally, he reaches the Giant hand of God. Reaching the top of it, he impales Griffith into the middle finger, all the way up to the hilt. Leaving him there, he turns to see what is happening around him._

 _His companions await. Casca stands over Ubik, pulling her earth-enhanced sword out of his eye socket. Isidro and Serpico stand panting as they overlook the burning remains of Conrad. Farnese straddles Slan, the gorgon restrained by magical vines as Schierke swings her burning staff onto Slan's face, with Farnese impaling the demon again and again with her silver daggers. All three Godhands bear the glowing wounds born from the Sword of Actuation. Their victories would not have been possible without the Knight's help. And the King himself-_

 _stood at the "Ceiling" of the interstice, the spine of Void clutched between his teeth. With a loud crunching noise, he bites through the spinal cord, and Void's head falls through to the floor. He then raises the sword, energy bursting from it. At the finger, Dark flames rise from Griffith as he begins to slowly push the Dragonslayer out of him._

 _"Where do you think your going?"_

 _Running up to Griffith, Guts pushes the sword back into him, forcing him back into the finger. Griffith's screams increase in intensity as Guts holds him in place._

 _Meanwhile, the Skull Knight begins to raise his sword into the air. His intention is now clear. He going to destroy this place, and all that lives inside of it. It is the only way to be sure._

 _With what is left of his strength, Griffith releases a burst of dark power throughout the Nexus, throwing everyone except Guts off their feet. Isidro groans as he looks over the edge, and then his eyes widen. "Guys?" Isidro wordlessly pointed down below._

 _A swarm of monsters runs and climbs up the hand. Guts recognizes several of them._

 _The Snake Baron. The Great Goat. Vlad Tepes._

 _Griffith has broken the fundamental rules of the universe, opening up the vortex of souls in an act powered by fear and hate._

 _Guts grins. He accepts this challenge._

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 _The fellowship continues to battle. Serpico sends an army of trolls blasting off of the hand. Isidro impales the Great Goat with his Flame Dagger, cooking it's insides as it tries to shake him off. Casca swiftly dodged under the Barons tail before climbing his head like a mongoose, impaling him though the brain with her sword. Vlad reaches forwards with his telekinesis, but compared to Griffiths, it is nothing. Guts splits his skull into four pieces before sending him over the side. His fat corpse falls down, knocking more monsters off like a bunch of dominos before he finally hits the ground. Farnese expertly throws a silver dagger into the throat of a Kelpie, the enchanted silver cutting through it's watery barrier. Schierke swings her staff, burning an entire wave of blobs to cinders and ash._

 _Meanwhile, The Skull Knight's dimension destroying attack is near release. His skeletal horse runs around, ready to spirit the group to safety. Having thinned the numbers enough, Guts get's ready to leave, only to see Griffith standing at the edge. He spreads his leathery wings, ready to take flight-_

 _Only to be impaled by the Dragonslayer, sending out a spray of blood and organs through his front as he coughs and sputters. Thrusting Griffith over his head with a roar of rage, Guts impales the hawk into the palm of the giant hand. This time, he is not going to pull is sword out. He is going to stay here until the Skull Knight strikes._

 _ **HE WILL NOT LET GRIFFITH LIVE TO HURT HIS FAMILY AGAIN.**_

 _He yells at them to get onto the horse, to escape and live, but they refuse._

 _They will stay with him until the end._

 _The Skull Knight looks at the group, his expression unreadable. **"IT'S TIME, STRUGGLER."** He brings his sword down. The energy ripples throughout the interstice, blowing everything up. The creatures swarming around shattered like glass._

 _Guts kept Griffith impaled in the ground, the dark hawk thrashing and screaming as his plans come to ruin. Amazingly, he starts pushing the Dragonslayer out of him as black flame pulses from his form._

 _And then Casca impaled her sword into his mouth, forcing him down. The rest of the group follows suit. If they die, they will do so making sure that no one else will have to live in a world where Griffith exists. The Sylph Sword buries itself into his left arm. A silver dagger stabs through his right palm. The Salamander Dagger stabs into Griffiths right leg. An earth Golem forces down Griffiths left leg, it's arms cracking under the pressure._

 _And Puck stomped on the White Hawks crotch again and again._

 _Finally, the Skull Knight's attack catches up to them, surrounding them with engulfing energy. Just for good measure, the first King of Midland swings one more time onto the top of the hand._

 _Then, everything went white._

 _When they came to, they were on a grassy plain. Guts looked to the ground._

All that was left of Griffith was melted armor, grey dust, and burned feathers.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They were all expecting to die, not to be sent to this place. When they first arrived in the grassy plains of Natalia, they thought that they had simply been transported to somewhere in Midland by the dimension warping attack. A few looks around the town of Port Natalia quickly proved them wrong. The appearances of the local "Monsters" also helped with proving their presumptions wrong. Guts and his group quickly realized that they had been sent into another dimension entirely. With no other way of contacting their homeland, they decided that they would simply survive in this new land.

 **NOW-San Ilia**

Earlier that day, everyone had started with their tasks. Farnese and Casca were training together outside of town. Isidro was checking the local bar for bombs (Truth: Flirting with the women.), Schierke was out of town helping that boy-Luka, he recalled,- investigate the haunted manor, while Guts, Puck, and Serpico had come to the Forest of Spritis to hunt down a bounty on a monster. Standing over the remains of the chimera, Guts frowned.

The monster in the bounty description was far different than what he had just killed. The bounty described it as being covered in "White fur", having an "ape like stature", and being as tall "as a house". The creature that he had killed did match any of the above descriptions. In fact, when Guts thought about it, said description kinda reminded him of that one apostle, Wya- His eyes widened as he remembered what happened during the earlier battle.

 _Griffith had broken the fundamental rules of the universe, opening up the vortex of souls in an act powered by fear and hate._

 _If we got sent here by the Skull Knight's attack, than all of those escaped apostles also-_

And then he heard the sounds of battle coming from inside the forest.

 _"Well, at least I've found Serpico."_

With that, Guts rushed to the young man's aid.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Serpico grunted as he dodged another fist from his beastly opponent. The massive fist created a crater on the ground as Serpico leapt into a tree-

and then the fist slammed into it, sending it toppling over as Serpico hastily made a retreat to the ground. He turned and sent a slash at the things head with his Slyph Sword.

The beast grinned before it nonchalantly dodged the slice, only for a small gash to appear on it's cheek. It greedily lapped at the gash on it's cheek.

 **"How funny."** Wyald grinned as he advanced forward, his body covered in similar slashes, but otherwise unharmed. Serpico jumped into the air as he released a massive flurry of wind enhanced slashes. Wyald grinned before slapping his hands together, dispelling Serpcio's barrage with a massive burst of wind that sent Serpico flipping backwards. The young man grunted. From within the depth's of his consciousness, a voice spoke. _"Be careful Serpie!"_ Sylph called, clearly worried about her new partner's survival. _"I'm trying the best I can."_ Serpico dodged a massive punch from Wyald, who's attacks came with a shocking speed from a beast his size. Despite his hastily made contract with the Wind Spirit, Serpico felt sweat drip down his forehead as Wyald attacks kept coming without stopping, forcing Serpico to be defensive and constantly jump with his fast attacks. " _That speed...Does he control the wind too?"_

 **"My wild, unrestrained nature gives me great power over the wind! Enjoyment and Excitement!"**

That answered that.

Suddenly, Wyald leapt into the air. **"Wyald Jump!"** Serpico grunted before he prepared to leap out of the way. **"Wyald Stomp!"** Wyald's massive bulk came crashing down onto the forest floor, scattering leaves and sending Serpico rolling from the sheer force of it. Serpico forced himself up, realizing he had dropped his sword. He immediately reached forward-

Only to be caught in Wyald's massive hand. Serpico opened his eyes as he tried to force the apes fingers open.

Wyald laughed as he squeezed Serpico, the knight coughing up blood as his bones began to creak.

 **SNIKT**

Suddenly the pressure stopped, and Serpico dropped to the ground, righting himself as he picked up his sword.

Wyald stared, blinking at his hand.

Which had fallen off of his arm onto the forest floor. Wyald looked down, uncomprehending at the figure in black armor below him, head covered by a wolf like helmet and armed with a massive sword. One of the black gauntlets on his attackers left forearm split open, revealing-

Pulling the cord on his metal arm, Guts sent Wyald flying back in a blast of canon fire.

 **"WHAAT!?"** Wyald shrieked as he was sent off his feet, his bulk smashing threw trees as blood gushed out of his giant lower mouth and arm, teeth uselessly falling out of the mouth. Wyald shook his head and tried to get up-

Only for a black blur to fire past, sliceing off half of his right leg. Wyald began to screaming in pain before the figure turned and let loose another swing.

 **CLANG**

Wyald was sent smashing down onto his back as the blade stabbed through his chest, spilling out even more blood.

With Wyald down for now, Guts ran to Serpico. "You alright?" he asked. Serpico just smirked and cracked his neck, uncaring for the blood on his chin. "Meh, I've had worse." Growling with rage, Wyald forced himself up. Sneering through a bloody mouth and reaching out with the power of the wind, he practically threw the devastated trees at Guts and Serpico as though they were missiles. Without missing a beat, Guts turned and brought the Dragonslayer down like a hammer. With each swing, the trunks were split into firewood. Wyald looked on, astonished at the power of his opponent. " **How the hell-"** A cord of recognition struck within the ape apostle.

 **"HAWK RAIDER!"** Wyald roared with rage as he got onto his one good foot, his hatred holding him together as he practically threw himself at the two swordsmen. Across the battlefield, Guts and Serpico stood together, swords raised. As the power of Sylph began to build around Serpico, flame suddenly began to snake it's across the surface of the Dragonslayer.

Wyald and Serpico were not the only ones with the power of the elements.

Serpico fully opened his eyes.

Wyald howled like the feral beast he was.

Guts grinned maliciously under his black helmet.

The slaughter commenced.

-END

 **A/N:**

 **To clear things up, this does not take place during the main story.** **The Main story is in it's own separate universe. This omake takes place in what could be considered an "Alternative World" to the main story, sort of like what Paradox is to MGQ. Now, I may or may not revisit this alternate sidestory. In all honesty, it mostly exists as a "Halloween Special", but I may find some way to include it again as I continue writing.**

 **After this chapter, I'm going to write another chapter of the main story. Than, I will wrap up the Ubik/Conrad sidestory before going back to the main story once again.**

 **As for the sidestory itself, more will be explained about it's relation to the main story.**

 **Have a happy Halloween, and remember to put your grasses on!**


	4. Serene Minds

**Now, back to the main story.**

 **This story is also available on SpaceBattles.**

Chapter 4: Serene Minds

As Morning dawned, Granberia casually marched forward through the thick forest, her stick slung over her the back of her tunic like a knight's great sword. " _I wonder what Salamander's gonna think of her."_ Granberia thought in reference to Alma. She spared a curious glance to the young succubus. Alma had a long purple scarf wrapped around her head, which she held onto tightly, along with a cloak that seem too big for her size. Alma was looking downwards at the forest floor, her eyes downcast. So far, she hadn't spoken much about why she was running. Granberia didn't expect to find her during her trip around the Gold region. She thought back to the day she left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **Gold Volcano**

 _"Alright kid, I think you have what it takes to travel on your own." Salamander said as Granberia lifted a bag with food onto her back. As Granberia swung the stick she had used for training over her back, Salamander continued speaking. "Travel around this region for a week, see if you can find anything interesting in the world around you." Salamander scratched her head, her hand traveling through the flames above her. "Normally I wouldn't like the idea of sending such a young kid like you out there, but most kids haven't mastered the Serene Mind at the age of five, so I'm sure you'll be fine." Nodding, the eight-year old Dragonkin turned and began to walk to the cave entrance, her head held up high. Smiling proudly, Salamander's grin shifted to a predatory one as she turned around. In front of her was a group of four monsters clad head to toe in gleaming armor. They consisted of two sword wielding elves, one Cerberus, and one lamia with a spear strapped over her shoulder. "So." The Flame Spirit said, cracking her neck. "Your training begins now." As though awoken by an unspoken signal, the squad charged forward, Salamander doing the same as her smile widened, her fangs gleaming._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **Gold Forest**

 _Jumping over the charging Mantis Girl, Granberia turned and hit her in the head with a rock, sending her stumbling into a pond._

 _XXXXXXXX_

 _The lamia lifted herself as high as she could as she could, stabbing her spear right in front of the charging spirit. She blinked._

 _The Spirit was running at them one moment, now she was standing right on top of the spear, balancing herself perfectly as though she hadn't been running in the first place. A flaming fist smashed itself into her helmet, shattering it as the Lamia fell down backwards. Disbelief lined the Lamia's face right before a fire-charged kick to the temple knocked her out. Salamander laughed as she dodged a slice from the elf twins._

 _"You react too slowly."_

 _XXXXXXXXX_

 _The harpy bandit threw a collection of throwing knives at the young dragonkin, all of which were dodged by the speedy warrior in training. She through another knife while the dragon was in the middle of a dodge-_

 _Only for her to reach out and grab it. With a twirl, she held it out along side her stick. Glaring at the challenge through green eyes, the harpy bandit spread her wings and flew up, revealing the steel gauntlets covering her talons. Her blue hair flipped around as she flew forward, the young dragonkin doing a charge of her own._

 _Year's later, the Harpy Queen would laugh when she realized exactly who she had been fighting at that time._

 _XXXXXXXXXX_

 _The Elves have been getting more impatient as the fights gone on, Salamander realized. They both charged forward in a choreographed attack that Salamander had already seen. Reaching out with flaming speed, she gripped bother their wrists in an iron grip. Without looking behind herself, Salamander flung them off their feet behind her. She leaped out of the way as the Cerberus barreled through, smashing into her elven comrades during the charge and sending them flying into a wall, on which they slid down. The Cerberus stopped and turned around, looking at her unconscious comrades. Instantly, all three heads began to argue with one another as they tried to figure out who needed to be blamed._

 _"Keep your focus."_

 _With that, Salamander leaped onto the distracted beasts back, swiping at all three heads with her sharp nails. Cracks appeared on the helmets as the now dazed Cerberus stumbled around. Salamander jumped off her back with a burst of flame as she hopped on top of a nearby pile of stones. Cerberus angrily charged again in an attempt to knock her down. Salamander calmly jumped down as the living battering ram charged forward, her burning nails slashing the massive dog in the side, this time drawing blood. Unable to control it's momentum, the Cerberus continued charging forward before coming to a stop. The First head glared at Salamander, the second smiling in blood lust, while the third looked on in concern at the small slash on her side._

 _XXXXXXXXXXX_

 _In the darkness of the night, Granberia held out her dagger as she stared at the vampiress. Despite the the wooden spear in her chest, the ghoul was still determined to fight. Normally, Granberia didn't fight to kill her opponent but after seeing what the vampire had been doing, she couldn't bear to stand by and let anything more happen._

 ** _(The dragonkin looked on in horror as the red eyed vampiress ripped into the throat of the dead human boy. All around the area, mutilated, pale corpses were strewn over the ground._**

 ** _On top of the wagon was a small red stained bundle of clothes._**

 ** _That was what Granberia told herself, intentionally ignoring the shape of the bundle, or how their seemed to be something small and pale under it, or how a red trail was leaking out the side of it. The vampiress stopped her feast to turn and look at Granberia. Her bloody mouth transformed into a smile as she spoke. "Are you lost?" She said, her soft voice completely at odds with her deed. Suddenly the vampire leaped forward, claws outstretched as her mouth seemed to fill itself with fangs, her true form revealed._**

 ** _At that moment, serenity prevailed._**

 ** _Letting the power of water take hold in her, Granberia closed her eyes._**

 ** _The vampire blinked when she finished her pounce, only to find no warm flesh to sink into. Still on all fours, she turned around, looking for the little dragonkin. She got her answer when a Granberia's stick smashed it's way into her face hard enough to snap it's end off, knocking a fang out as she yowled in pain. Turning swiftly, Granberia stabbed her newly made spear into the vampires chest, forcing it back. Granberia pushed the impaled vampire away with all of her might. At this point, she stepped back, accidently stepping onto the dead boy's corpse._**

 ** _Her Serene Mind cleared up.)_**

 _T_ _he vampiress laughed as pure obedience shined through her eyes. Soon this little annoyance would be nothing but another blood bag._

 _Granberia felt her body begin to stiffen._

 _The Vampire's power was quite strong against a mind that had been unfocused and recently disturbed._

 _But against a **Serene Mind** , it would not last for long._

 _Granberia calmly closed her eyes as the vampire approached, absolutely confident in her victory. That was before her "defeated" charged forward, stabbing her blade right into her belly button. " **FUCKING SHIT"** She screamed, sending her left claw down. Granberia pulled out swiftly. From her perspective, her enemy was moving slowly as though underwater. Running to the side, she threw her knife. The vampire shrieked as she reared backwards, her hands on her face as the knife protruded form her left eye. With her claws occupied, Granberia ran forward. Using her momentum, she pushed her the spear right into the vampires black heart._

 _With one last shuddering wail, the vampire fell to the ground dead._

 _Granberia went over to the corpse, pulling her knife and spear out. After that, the vampire's corpse dissolved in a flash of light. Panting, the young warrior got on her knee's. Looking around, she sadly surveyed the dead bodies. Knowing that nothing more could be done, she turned her back and walked away, knowing that at the very least, she had avenged them._

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _Salamander calmly stared the angry Cerberus down. She had lasted far longer than the others despite the extensive damage she received. She was now limping on her left hind leg, and her two left and right heads had been knocked unconscious. Her armor had been cracked and outright shattered in many places. And Salamander stood in front of her at the edge of a small cliff, not a scratch on her. Bellowing, she charged forward one last time._

 _This time Salamander did not move away._

 _A loud crashing sound resounded throughout the volcano._

 _The dog yelped in surprise, looking down as Salamander held her in place, her hands digging into the massive canines chest. With a grin, Salamander began to pull up._

 _"Wh-What are you doing?" the surprised dog shouted as she tried to pull herself away. Salamanders nails dug into the dog's chest as she slowly began to lift her up._

 _Steam began to rise from her body as she put her power into this throw._

 _With a mighty heave, Salamander threw the Cerberus over the cliff behind her. The Dog yelped as she fell down ten feet onto the drop below. A loud thud was heard. The shear exhaustion of the battle finally overwhelmed her, and she let sleep claim her._

 _"You'll be fine." Salamander quipped as she overlooked her unconscious students. She then began to walk towards the front entrance of the volcano, calling out behind her back: "Training starts again tomorrow morning." Walking outside, she felt the cool air on her body as she stared at the moon. A genuine, warm smile crept it's way onto her face as she looked up. "Granberia...Your gonna go far kid."_

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

Granberia and Alma continued walking forward. Eventually, Granberia finally decided to ask Alma about her circumstances. Leaning her head backwards, the little knight spoke thusly: "Hey, uh, you've been looking a bit sad. If you want to talk about it..." Alma whispered something. Granberia frowned "Sorry, I couldn't hear you." Alma turned to the side, her eyes starting to get wet. Granberia sighed and facepalmed. "Look, I'm really sorry that I brought it up, I honestly don't know just how bad whatever happened-" Suddenly, Granberia's eyes widened as she smelt a familiar scent.

The scent of blood.

Grabbing Alma, she pulled the surprised young Succubus into a nearby bush. "What-"

"Shh. Do you hear that?" Granberia growled from inside the bush, her hands going to her dagger and spear. Alma looked around nervously.

From inside the bush, they both watched as a lamia with long green hair and golden eyes slithered nearby the bush. The lamia braced herself on a nearby tree, clearly tired. Their was a crossbow wound on her right shoulder, and a big slash on her chest area between her breasts. Their was also a small, but bleeding gash on her forehead. She had a noticeably large belly. Alma and Granberia's eyes widened as they realized the implications.

" _Is-is she pregnant?"_ They both thought. Suddenly, they heard the clopping of hooves and the clanking of armor.

A group of knights charged through the trees, surrounding them. On their armored chests was the symbol of a cross.

The mark of Illias.

One Knight lifted up a spear, which he pointed at the lamia. "IN THE NAME OF ILLIAS, SURRENDER AND WE SHALL GRANT YOU A QUICK DEATH! REFUSE, AND WE WILL SEND YOU TO HELL THE SLOW WAY!"

Granberia narrowed her eyes from within the bush. Without hesitation, she stepped out, her spear and dagger in hands. She glared at the growing number of knights.

"Like Hell you will."

The ironclad knight's slowly began to surround them, up to thirteen in all. Five horse bound swordsmen stared at them through lion-faced helmets. Two men with shark faced helmet's held crossbow's at their hips, casually leaning on nearby tree's. Four men on the ground held spears, and they wore boar shaped helmets. On top of one horse, the speaking spearman from earlier had a gold colored boar helmet, perhaps signifying him as a person of greater importance than the other spear wielders. One small looking fellow wore what appeared to be wolf shaped helmet, and on each hand he wore a three pronged gauntlet of sharpened steel.

The Gold Spearman stared at Granberia. "A CHILD, EH? WE SHOULD PROBABLY KILL YOU BEFORE YOU GROW UP TO BE A STRONG DRAGON."

The Wolf Man seemed to be excited by this statement, for he began to beat on his chest and laugh. One of the crossbow men seemed to take issue with this. "...Do we really have to kill her? She's just a kid-" "SILENCE!" The Gold Spearman roared. "SHE IS A DEVILSPAWN! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY PEOPLE WE WOULD MURDER BY LETTING HER LIVE TO ADULTHOOD? HER AND THAT DEVILSPAWN CHILD IN THAT FOUL LAMIAS WOMB! THEY MUST BE DESTROYED!"

Granberia was unmoved. "You guys think you're a bunch of hero's? Don't make me laugh. I know a real warrior, and she'd be a far better knight than all of you combined."

XXXXXXXXXX

 **Gold Volcano**

Salamander swiftly dodged to the side as the Cerberus charged her, the spear wielding lamia on the dogs back swiping at her on the side. Casually leaning back, Salamanders advice was swift.

"It's nice to see you two working together."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 **Gold Forest**

The Goldman was enraged. "FOUL REPTILLIAN! WE ARE NOT A GROUP OF TRAVELING ADVENTURERS! WE ARE NOT MEN SEEKING PLEASURE FROM MONSTERS LIKE THOSE TRAITORS IN GRAND NOAH! WE ARE WARRIORS, KNIGHTS DEDICATED TO KILLING ALL OF YOUR HERETICAL SCUM! WE ARE THE EXTERMINATION ARM OF THE CHURCH! WE ARE THE ULTIMATE KNIGHTS OF ILLIAS! WE ARE THE CRU-

 **"Illias Kreuzaders."** A booming voice interrupted. The Goldman became even angrier as he shouted out "WHO DARES INTERRUPT MY SPEEC-oh hi general I didn't see you there", he said, suddenly becoming meek in the end. A new figure stepped up behind the crossbow men.

He was clad in dark armor, and he wore a black helmet shaped like a human skull over his head with a red visor. He was a tall figure, with Granberia only coming up to his legs. Slung over his back was a massive halberd. What was most notable, however, were the bones.

A necklace of various types of monster fangs was slung around his neck. The sharp talons of a bird monster covered the fingers of his gauntlets like nails. Slung across his chest on a bandolier, were, shocking enough, three human skulls. On all three skulls, the word "Heretic" and "Tail Lover" had been carved onto the foreheads, hinting at his reasons for murdering his own kind. Lastly, at the bottom of his helmet, a fang tipped lower jaw bone had been slung over where his own jaw would be. It was a truly fearsome sight. Granberia held her weapons tighter when she realized that jaw bone belonged to a dragonkin.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

 _"Now Granberia, there are four types of hero's. There's the lousy, weak kind that are only in it for the privileges. Next, there are the perverts that intentionally lose to get laid. Then, their are the brave, noble types that protect the people, these guy's are usually the type that'll give you a good fight. However, the last group is what you should really be concerned about." Salamander said, suddenly becoming serious. "These guy's are the crazies, the lunatics, they really, really, hate monsters and whoever associates with them. Killing is what they really, really, love. They don't care if a monsters minding her own business, they'll kill her and dance around her corpse. They will attack human villages that so much as let one monster coexist with them. They don't even care if they have to attack a major human kingdom! As long as they can kill something, the consequences can go to the depths of earth." Salamander pointed at Granberia. "If you see those guys coming at you, do not hesitate at all, because they won't. Unless you want to become their dinner, put your everything into that fight. If they out number you, run. Living another day is worth the shame."_

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

Granberia pushed herself out of her memories. " _I'm not the one who's going to be running_ _."_

The Bone General looked at her, his expression masked by his helmet. " **It is a shame that I have to kill a brave little warrior like you at such a young age. I would have loved to fight you in your adulthood."** He turned to the Goldman. **"Crusaders is the modern interpretation. As the best knights of the Goddess, we must use ancient translation, "Kreuzaders."** The Goldman seemed to recoil. "General, I'm sorry-" He shrieked in fear when he found an axe blade aimed at his throat. The General glared at him. **"Redeem yourself through combat."** Snapping out his fear, the Goldman mumbled an apology before charging forward, spear outstretched.

 **[Serene Mind]**

The man thrust his spear out at Granberia, only for her to leap up above him. He gasped in shock right before she tossed her spear's blunt end at his head, knocking him off his horse. She then jumped down onto his body, knocking the wind out of him before she smashed her fist into the side of his helmet, knocking him unconscious with a loud clang. The horse, frightened by this turn of events, ran off.

Wordlessly, the General pointed forwards, and all four remaining spearmen charged forwards. With four men surrounding her, it would have been a tough battle for a six-year old child, even with her serene mind.

But most kids weren't Granberia.

Moving forward, she shifted around one knight seamlessly, knocking him off his feet with a swing. He fell to the ground, dropping his spear, which fell forwards and cut another knight ass. The man screamed as he tripped. _"_ Demon!" he screamed, turning around to swing at her-

-Only for him to fall down, gurgling his own blood as a spear protruded from his back. The lamia from earlier pulled the spear out, which she had taken from the now unconscious Goldman. With a flourish, she turned around and swung it at the third spearman, locking them both into a duel. The first spearman cowered on the ground, crawling away and trying not to be noticed- only for a cross bolt to slam into his head, killing him.

The General glared at one of the horrified archers. **"Next time, try aiming before you open fire."**

The Wolfman looked on, breathing heavily. He eagerly got ready to charge forwards-Only for bone tipped hand to grab him and hold him in place. "Come on General, let met at 'em he" whined, struggling. The General shook his head. **"No. The last time you got this excited Konner, three of our men went home with horrible burns and five of them died. We can't risk you going crazy and attacking everyone."** Konner sadly drooped his head, his respect for the General outweighing his bloodlust. The General looked at the fight. The lamia head butted the third spearman, and now she had impaled him in the chest with the spear. As he fell downwards, one of the Lion Knights burst out from behind a tree. Throughout the battle, the sword knights had been sneaking out to start an ambush. She and the knight locked their weapons together. Meanwhile, Granberia finished off the last spearman. Forcing him backwards, she let out a truly vicious swing at his head, shattering his helmet and slamming him into a tree, dazed. "Gonna kill you.." He said, swinging around dizzily before a branch fell out of the tree, clunking him in the head. He fell to the ground unconscious. Granberia then turned, ready to fight the next group-

-Just in time to dodge when a cross bolt flew through the air by her head. The shark men cursed and reloaded their crossbows.

Running forward, she ignored them and attacked a swordsman that had been sneaking up on the lamia while she was occupied.

The man yowled in pain as she slid beneath his legs, hitting him right in the nuts.

These men were willing to kill a pregnant woman. They deserved no mercy. As he fell to the ground unconscious, the lamia managed to overwhelm her opponent, stabbing him through the neck. Two more swordsmen came out of the woods, older and more advanced in their technique than the previous ones by the looks of it. As they advanced, Granberia and the Lamia got back to back with one another. As the lamia dueled her swordsman, the one fighting Granberia kept his distance as she released a strike. _"A Serene Mind."_ he thought, carefully observing her movements. _" I'll just use the normal strategy. I'll stay out of her reach until she runs out of the Spirit Power needed to keep her Serene Mind up. Then, I'll strike" _He finished, narrowly avoiding a blow from the young swordswoman as cracks began to form on his sword.

The General raised his hands to his mouth as he released a truly tremendous shout.

 **"SEND IN THE HOUNDS!"**

On cue, a loud rumble was heard through the forest as a large amount of armored Dire Wolves tore through the woods into the clearing. The swordsmen seemed to be invigorated, for their blows came even harder. They surrounded the fighters, waiting to break in. Meanwhile, Alma hid in the bush, watching in shock and awe at the battle. While she had just met Granberia, she had no idea that she was so skilled. The lamia fighter also brought out her curiosity. Suddenly, a sword cut through the bush.

The last swordsman had found her. His helmet, shaped like the head of a roaring lion, peered at her as his hand reached out to grab her. She inched herself back as he began to push himself further into the bush. "Don't worry, I'll make it quick. Believe, the other guys would go out of their way to hurt you." He casually said, as though he was walking about the weather. Alma began to back away even further as the man raised his sword.

Outside, the archers began to aim, their sights firmly on Granberia.

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _ **Succubus Village**_

 _Her Mother was yelling at her to run as the **beast** held her in place. Her beautiful appearance was marred by ash and blood as the killer held her in place, smiling at her struggles to break out. But the sheer horror still rooted her in place. Then the **beast** began to slowly lift her mother up. His mouth opened wide, wider than it had the right to as he raised her head towards his mouth. Behind her mother, she saw steam beginning to rise from the **monsters** lower area._

 _At this point Alma finally held the courage to run. Without looking behind her she was about to round the corner when she heard_

 _a sickening **crunch** coming from where her mother was. Alma started to run faster._

 _XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX_

 _Alma walked forwards, her eyes blank at the horror surrounding her. While running, she tripped over something on the ground._

 _It was a dark purple scarf, the same color as her mother's hair. Wordlessly, she put it on before running some more._

 _She escaped the down, amazingly having no further encounters with **it.**_

 _ **BEFORE**_

 _"I don't why your interested in the being a warrior, but I'll show what I know" her mother said, clearly not taking Alma seriously but deciding to indulge her request regardless._

 ** _NOW_**

Suddenly, Alma felt like her fear had dissipated.

Like her mother had instructed her, she stepped forward with her fist outstretched, her wings spreading out.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Two things happened.

First, the archers pressed down the triggers of their crossbows, sending out two bolts.

Second, one of their own screamed in alarm.

The bolts did not reach their target. Instead, a screaming lion knight was sent flying through the air out of the bush in a blast of air, right into the arrows path. The bolts punched into him, the momentum instantly killing him and sending his corpse right into the knight fighting the lamia, knocking him out. Terrified by the events so far, the remaining horses turned and fled to the dismay of the humans. Those fighting turned and stared in amazement. The surprise of it broke Granberia out of her Serene Mind. Alma walked out of the bush, wind billowing around her. No longer did she seem like a scared little girl.

This time, she had an absolutely determined look in her eyes. Several hounds broke off from their pack to attack her-

-only for a green blur to fly past them. Lashing out with her stick, Granberia knocked the dogs off their paws, sending them crashing to the forest floor.

She then took a place right next to Alma, both of them sharing a knowing look. If they fought together, they would be much stronger in battle.

Putting her spear between her teeth, the lamia ran forward, grabbing two swords from two fallen swordsmen. Quickly slithering over to Granberia and Alma, she tossed a sword to both of them. Granberia expertly held the sword up, Alma imitating her position.

The wolves began to circle them, filled with rage. Behind them, the last remaining swordsman jumped on a particularly large wolf like it was a horse.

He raised his sword and pointed it at them as the horde began to creep forwards.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The General glared one of the archers. They recoiled in fear. "Look man," said one of the archers, "We didn't mean to shoot Igor-GAH!" He yelled as the General fastened his right hand around his head, lifting him into the air. He began to squeeze. **"Igor** **belonged to a Noble family**. **"** A crack was heard as the man started screaming in pain. **"His death will not reflect well on us."** With one final squeeze, he dropped the dead archer onto the ground. While the one remaining archer looked on in horror, the general casually flicked the blood and brain matter off of his hand. He turned to Konner. **"Make sure that the other one does his duty."** Laughing, Konner turned and looked at the last archer. He held the blades on his gauntlet up to the man's neck. The terrified archer gulped and pointed his crossbow back at the battle

The General strode forward through the sea of combat, his main focus directed to Granberia.

" **If you want something done right, do it yourself."**

XXXXXX

The war wolves were not stupid. Instead of attacking all at once, they were circling the group, looking for any opportunities to catch them by surprise. One hound jumped out behind Granberia. Spinning around, she swung her sword, cutting through it's neck mid leap. The wolf fell to the ground besides her, blood spewing from the stump on it's neck. Another two charged at her, only for Alma to jump in front of them. She let loose a punch in front of them, a burst of air coming from her fist, sending the two wolves back into the horde, knocking the other dogs around. While the rest of the wolves recovered from the unconventional barrage, three more charged forward, only for her to swing her sword, the slash traveling away from the sword and cutting into the hounds. One dropped to the ground as it's front leg was severed, blood gushing as the shock of the sudden loss sent the dog into unconsciousness. Another lost it's head, and it charged forward a few more feet before dropping to the ground. The last wolf fell to the side as it's left ear fell to the ground, it's training being the only thing preventing it from crying out.

It got back to it's feet and growled at her-only for a spear to pierce through it's head.

The lamia pulled her red spear out of the dead hound, twisting it around with a flourish as she brought it's end down onto another wolves head, sending it to the ground, it's tongue lolling out as it surrendered to blackness. Suddenly, sharp teeth bit into the back of her red tail, and she yelled as the dog on her tail began to sink it's teeth further in. Running on pure adrenaline, she swung her tail at another hound, the sheer force snapping it's neck as she violently swung the dog down like a hammer, the beast falling off after the impact. The hammered dog had it's own war helmet shattered as it stumbled around, dazed.

The red spear slit it's throat, and it finally fell down, dead. More hounds began to surround her. Granberia and Alma quickly rushed to her aid. Granberia slid between two wolves slicing a limb or two off with each hit. As the wolves fell to the ground, another one rushed at her. Granberia flung herself forward, and with her sword she cut it's head in two horizontally as she took a position next to the lamia. Alma charged forward with the power of the wind, elbowing her way into a hound, which was sent flying over her head as it yelped, blood gushing from it's mouth. It crashed down onto the floor as she finally took a spot next to Granberia and the lamia. Sweat began to drip down her forehead, for she was not as used to fighting as Granberia and the lamia. Nevertheless, she still took a fighting stance.

With the deaths of their fellow hounds, the wolves were now falling back. This changed, when, on top of his war hound, the last swordsman charged forward, the wolves trailing after him, reinvigorated. As the beast's began to surround them further, Granberia closed her eyes and focused.

 **[Serene Mind]**

Cut the head off the snake, and the body will die.

Speeding forward, she dove between the wolves easily moving around them. Jumping onto one wolves head, she used it as a stepping stone. Leaping forward, she brought her sword down onto the man's own sword. Crack's formed on his sword as she used her feet to jump off of his plated chest, nearly knocking him over. She sailed over the snapping head's off the wolves, her serene state making them appear to be barely moving. She threw her stick, the pointy end impaling itself into one hounds eye. The panicked animal began to lash out around, hitting other dogs. Due to this and the ongoing battle, the wolves began to lose discipline, the first wolves tantrum spreading to the others and driving them to bite and snap at other wolves the chaos spreading.

On top of his hound, the swordsman desperately called out to his hounds. "Settle down now!'' he yelled, barely holding on to his now berserk hound.

Then, Granberia saw her opportunity.

Jumping from wolf to wolf, she brought her sword down, the man desperately holding out his own blade.

His eyes widened as she cut right through his blade. As the silver splinters sailed through the air, her blade cut across his chest. He fell off of his hound. He blinked, feeling unharmed.

Right before a thin line appeared on his chest, blood suddenly spraying out. As he cried out in pain, the war wolves lost their discipline entirely. They began to run around wildly, the wounded swordsman disappearing under a tide of fur as the hounds trampled over him, the animal's randomly attacking everything in sight, including the monsters and their fellow hounds. Using her Serene Mind, Granberia eased through the swarm, chopping off limbs and head's as she got back to Alma and the lamia. Alma thrust her hand's forward, creating a wind barrier in a small radius around them. The now savage hounds began to bush themselves up against the barrier, snapping and snarling. A few managed to force themselves past it, but a spear to the brain's quickly ended them. Running up a wolves back, Granberia jumped into the circle.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Bone General glared at the chaotic mess around him. War beasts tripping over each other, most of his men dead because they couldn't take on a pregnant lamia and two kids. **_"How could this happen?"_** He thought, before he found his answer. _" **Of course...the assault on the lamia camp was the first true combat mission for everyone except for me and Konner. Also, my soldier's aren't used to fighting monster's that are willing to fight lethally. Idiot's, don't they know that when fighting to kill, they should expect their enemies to do the same."**_ He sighed as he clutched one of the skull's strapped across his chest. **"This was supposed to be a simple extermination mission to increase the experience of my recruits, not a further scar on our Order."** Crack's began to form on the skull he was holding. He looked at the now mad horde. By now, the three monsters had managed to wittle their numbers to less than twenty. Those not dead were stumbling around in daze with various injuries and lost limbs, the remaining healthy wolves not moving as fast. **"USELESS"** He growled in anger, having enough.

 **"SO BE IT."**

The General finally crushed the skull as he looked up into the sky. By now, it was Afternoon. **"Illias, give me strength!"** he prayed, raising his hand's to the heavens. He pulled out his halberd as he aimed it right in the middle of the horde. He began to move forward with a speed beyond what his massive form appeared capable of achieving. Aiming his blade, he spoke his next words not with a roar, but with deathly cold calmness.

 **"Demon Decapitation"**

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Granberia's eyes widened as the war hounds in front of her suddenly began to split in two down the middle, falling down in bloody halves while a black blur charged forward. "Move!" She yelled as the general prepared another swing. " **Demon Decapitation"** he called out, his attack slicing right into Alma's barrier like it wasn't there. The succubus yelped as she and the lamia dove out of the way. Granberia slid under the General as he brought his halberd down onto where they had been standing before hand, sending a mass of wet earth into the air. She immediately leaped forward to attack-

Only for him to grab her sword mid swing and hold her, snapping her concentration and her Serene Mind. "A monster technique" she said under her breath, loud enough for him to hear. **"It decapitates demon's like you. That's good enough for me and Illias."** Staring Granberia right in the eye's, he began to lift his axe up, ready to bring it down. " _Shit! He's got me! Unless-"_ Inhaling as fast as she could, Granberia exhaled as she released a fiery blast right into his face. He held his axe in front of his face like a shield, the expertly crafted metal defending himself from the heat.

Granberia braced her leg's against his chest, pushing herself backwards with all her might. A terrible scraping noise was heard as she jumped back. Landing on her feet, she looked at her sword, only for her too see that the tip had been snapped off. _"Ah, Nuts."_ She thought as the General charged forward's, brandishing his axe. She immediately leaped out of the way of his blow. Turning, she sent out a swing of her own, only for him to block it with his halberd. she promptly rolled under his next swing, jumping onto a dog corpse. _"He's so fast."_ She thought, her breathing going ragged as she finally began to sweat. She jumped up, intending to hit his head, but he blocked with his halberd and shoved her off of him six feet away. _"He's definitely not like the others... If his giant axe hit's my sword full on, it'll shatter! Unles-"_ Her thought's were interrupted as he brought his grim edge down. She narrowly evaded the blow as he split a dead dog in half.

XXX

Alma watched with wide eyes as Granberia began to struggle against the giant. She desperately wanted to help, but she was currently preoccupied. The surviving wolves were surrounding her. There was seemingly no end to the things. She sent one hound flying with a windblast, it's close proximity to her attack ensuring that it was ripped in half as her attack sent it's remains rolling in the grass. Suddenly, a massive weight on her back as another wolf pounced her. She quickly held her sword up, her right hand on the grip and her left on the flat. The dog snapped and snarled as it bit down onto her sword, shaking it's head from side to side as it tried to rip it out of her hands. As the wolf began to scratch at her, she finally let go.

And used the power of wind to push the sword upwards, the blade in the hounds mouth slicing through and separating the top of the hound's head. It fell backwards as blood spewed from the separated area's. The now blood soaked succubus panted. Now, their were only three dogs left. Faster than she could summon her wind, they closed in.

"No!" a strained voice called, and then a thrown spear pierced through the hound's head's, killing all three.

The lamia breathed heavily as she pulled her spear out. She pointed towards the General. "That Illias humper over there is the main threat. Try and hold him back with your wind." She then turned towards the crossbow man and Konner. "I'll take that sniper out."

XXX

An idea formed in Granberia's head as he continued to chase her, swinging his halberd again and again as she barely managed to parry.

 _"If I have enough time to concentrate, I can recreate my Serene Mind."_

She stood her ground, holding her sword out as he charged forward. With a roar, he swung downward's. At the same time Granberia leaped into the air, before forcing herself downwards. Landing on top off the handle with her feet, she swung with all she had at the General's head-he suddenly swung his halbered to the side like a club, the sheer force sending her flying off. Her impact was broken when she fell onto a pile of gore. Her warrior's discipline was what kept her calm, even as blood that was not her own began to stain her. Once again, she had to dodge a sudden slice at her head. She barely evaded, a few of her red hairs getting sliced off despite her narrow dodge. She spied a brown, sharp edge sticking out of a dead wolves head.

 _"Just what I was looking for."_

Her tail began to wrap around the stick. She closed her eye's and began to concentrate. The General immediately prepared to swing his sword, intent on claiming her head before she could active her Serene Mind.

Suddenly, her tail flicked the spear at him. He instinctively swung his axe, smashing it into splinters.

 **[Serene Mind]**

This one second difference was all Granberia needed. Climbing up his armor, she swung. He moved his head to she side, but she did succeed in severing the dragonkin jawbone on his helmet. Jumping off, she began to run around him. He began swinging wildly. His swing's were like a blur, able to grind a base opponent into bits in a normal situation.

Granberia dashed around his strikes with ease. He brought his halberd down, only for her to move out of the way, which resulted in him burying the axe into some wolf corpses. While he started shaking the corpses off, the battlefield thick with blood, she climbed on top of his back. Grabbing onto his collar, she pulled her sword back, absolutely focused on driving it through his skull.

Suddenly, pain exploded in her shoulder.

Grunting, the impact sent her across the battlefield. She rolled to a stop. Groaning in pain, she noticed the crossbow bolt sticking out of her shoulder.

XXX

"I did it!" The last archer triumphantly yelled. He began to reload his crossbow, Konner standing nearby. The man in wolf armor laughed at the sight of the dragonkin on the ground. "Finally, you did something useful!" he jovially said. "Thanks-GAH!" the archer yelled. Konner turned just in time to see the archer fall to his knees, a thrown spear right in his heart. Konner felt his mouth water when he gazed across the killing field to see the lamia they had been fighting, her arm outstretched. "You really shouldn't have done that." he croaked out, slowly advancing towards her with his gauntlet claws outstretched. The Lamia's eyes widened when she realized that throwing away her only weapon was probably not her best idea.

XXX

Grabbing a nearby stick, Granberia bit down on it as she pulled the bolt from her shoulder. She then heard a dreaded growling noise.

 _"Not now..."_ she thought as the last remaining wolf ran at her, climbing on top of her body. Thinking fast, she pulled out her knife. Just when the wolf was about to close it's jaw's around her throat, she stabbed the blade right into it's neck. The wolf let out one last whimper before collapsing, and while pushing it off of her, she saw the General striding towards her. He picked up speed. " **No more games."** Granberia barely had her sword up before he was finally in front of her. He raised his halberd. This time, it was the end-

"Hey, asshole!" A wolf carcass slammed into him, knocking off his concentration. Granberia slipped past him, and she was greeted by the sight of Alma holding out her hands, a strained look on her face. Alma immediately lashed out with her wind, sending a massive blast at the General. However, his concentration had returned. Holding his arms out in front of him like an X, he began to move forward despite the wind's ripping around him. With a yell, Alma sent two more wolf corpses flying at him.

He immediately pulled out his Halberd, and with no hesitation he sliced through both wolves, the gore covering him as he began to get closer.

Right next to Alma, Granberia did her best to ignore the pain as she began to concentrate. Slowly, she opened her eyes, a calm look in them despite the devastation around her. "You can go." She casually remarked, now dual wielding her sword and dagger. Alma was about to protest, only for Granberia to point behind her. "She need's your help." Granberia pointed at the Lamia, who was struggling against Konner without her spear. Alma hesitated, but decided to put her faith in Granberia. Nodding, she went off to help. Granberia finally turned back to the Boneman. Without the cyclone holding him back, he had pushed forwards. Right in front of her. He swung his axe right at her, cutting into the air itself, his speed faster that any sane reaction could hope to accomplish.

Like water flowing around an obstacle, Granberia evaded it.

Her Serene Mind had returned.

The General's expression grew baleful under his helmet. **"No more holding back."**

This time it would be a battle of equals.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Konner laughed as he advanced on the lamia. "After tonight, your wretched warrior clan will be gone forever." Picking up a wolf corpse, she threw it with all her might. Konner simply held up his gauntlet.

In an explosion of blood, the dead wolf was ripped in half. Even as the blood coated his Wolf Helmet, Konner was not worried. "You may have put blood on my eyes, but I can still sniff your tasty blood out."

"Go back miss. I'll take care of this." The lamia looked on in surprise. Even though she was clearly exhausted from the battle, and covered in minor scratches the young succubus was still willing to fight. A hard, battle worn look was on her face. " _Such courage, at such a young age."_ Knowing that she could trust her, the lamia went to find a place to rest while Alma engaged Konner. The Wolfman laughed maniacally as he charged at her, claws outstretched.

Spreading her wings, Alma jumped over him, throwing her sword to the side in a bold move. He looked to the sky, eyes wide beneath his helmet. " _I forgot they could do that..."_ Alma launched a quick blast of wind, knocking him off his feet as he still charged. His momentum turned against him, Konner tumbled through the ground before hitting a tree, smacking his helmet and covering it with cracks. Shaking his head, he got up, his vision blurring. "Fuck! I can't see shit with this broken helmet on." Growling hatefully, Konner ripped his helmet off, revealing a long head of black hair, a shaggy beard covering his face, and a feral grin. Holding out his claws, Konner got on all four's and jumped up at Alma. She narrowly dodged to the side as he grabbed onto a tree. Jumping off of it, he did a flip, his claws slicing downwards as she evaded again. His claws dug into the woods of another tree as he pulled his bladed claws downwards, splitting wood as he turned around. With a cruel grin, he pointed upwards. Alma looked at her left wing.

There was a big cut on it.

She felt something soft and warm start to trip out of it.

Then, she was falling.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Even in her serene state, Granberia started breathing heavily, the battle making her tired even in her serene state. She once again managed to avoid a strike from the general, their blades clashing as Granberia timed her blows in a way that would not shatter her sword against his larger weapon. She managed to run past him, striking his armored leg. To her dismay, she found that she had only managed to make a small cut. " _His armors' too hard...I just need to find a weak spot.."_ At that moment, the General smashed the Halberd downwards. " **Demon Skull Beheading!"** The impact sent a shower of blood and dust into the air. Granberia grimaced as she braced herself for his next attack.

 **"Thunder Thrust!"**

XXX

Using the wind, Alma halted her descent, watching in horror as Konner began run, his claws outstretched as he prepared to skewer her. Thinking quickly, she opened up her tail and pointed it at him.

Konner yelled out in surprise and tripped as a sticky liquid was blasted into his eyes. "Holy shit, there's digestive juice in my eyes!" He immediately raised his hands to his face. Through blurred eyes, he saw his own bladed gauntlet pointed at him. Laughing manically, he pulled his blades away from his face. "Clever girl, trying to trick me into cutting my eyes out..." He smashed his face into the grass, wiping the juice off his eyes as he got up and looked around. "Now where did you go.." Like a dog, he got on his knees and sniffed her blood out. He saw a small trail around him, but he couldn't see her.

Up in a tree, Alma held up a crossbow. While Konner was blinded, she had taken the crossbow from the dead archer. Aimining it at his head, she pulled the trigger. While the bolt did not hit the intended target, it did succeed at striking Konner in the back. The heavy bolt sent him to the ground, screaming in pain. Alma's eyes widened as the recoil sent the crossbow flying out of her hands, with Alma falling off the branch she was standing on. Quickly, she wrapped her tail around the branch.

Enraged, Konner ran to the tree and stabbed his gauntlets into it. He than began to quickly climb up, stabbing into the wood. From her branch, Alma reached under her cloak.

She let go, allowing herself to fall to the ground.

One hand still impaled in the wood, Konner reached out with his free claw, intending to gut her mid fall.

Beneath her cloak, Alma pulled out a crossbow bolt. She threw it forward, right into Konner's left eye.

With a mad scream, Konner fell backwards off of the tree, while Alma broke her fall with the wind. She panted heavily as she looked on at Konner's now unmoving form. Suddenly, the wolf man's one remaining eye opened. She immediately backed away as he began to pull himself up, a hateful roar building up in his mouth. She pushed her self backwards with the wind. Her options were now limited. She was tired, and the adrenaline was wearing off, the pain in her wing growing. She felt her back hit something. She looked up and saw the same tree that Konner had been cutting through earlier.

At that moment, Alma knew that this was her last chance to take him down. "Come on!" She shouted, Konner accepting her challenge as he charged forwards, all rational thought gone from his angry mind. He pointed his claws right at her, intending to impale her.

Straightening herself, Alma launched herself up in one last burst of air. Konner missed her and impaled his arms right into the tree. He grunted as he tried to pull his claws out, but he found himself fully stuck inside of it. As Konner tried to pull himself out, Alma dropped down behind him. Sliding beneath his legs, she released a devastating punch right into the tree's trunk.

A resounding crashing sound was heard as the tree began to tip over. Alma immediately dashed out of the way.

Konner had no such luck, and he could only stare in shock, his eye widening before the tree fell on top of him. Alma fell to her knee's as she observed the fallen trunk, Konner's legs the only thing sticking out. Whether he was dead or knocked out did not matter, just that she had won.

A delirious smile crept it's way onto her face.

XXXX

Granberia held tight, betting everything on her next move.

It may very well be her last.

The General charged forward, propelled by his Thunder Thrust, the energy from his attacks blasting off sparks to the sides.

Instead of dodging the blade, Granberia held her ground. " _ **What is she doing?"**_ He thought. Sure enough his blade came in contact with hers.

Just before it happened, she threw her sword at his head.

The General instinctively grabbed it, leaving his hands occupied. At the same time, Granberia grabbed onto the halberd's side, holding on tight as the charge continued. She pulled herself on top with her legs and left arm holding on for dear life, holding her dagger sideways in her right arm. The General's eyes widened as he began to make a motion to shake her off. Granberia reacted faster.

"Demon Decapitation!" Her knife began to glow with burning power.

Releasing her arm and legs, she let the momentum from his charge fling her forward.

The dagger sliced right through his neck.

Both of the fighters came to a stop. Granberia tumbled to the ground, dropping her knife. The General stopped his charge. He turned around, facing her.

Blood began to spew from his neck. He took a single step towards her.

Than another.

And another.

He dropped his halberd to the ground. He spoke one last time, awe in his voice as his hand's clasped together in prayer.

 **"...You were magnificent."**

Like a puppet with it's strings cut, his head fell from his shoulders, blood pouring out from the stump.

Ten second's later, the dead warrior finally joined his head on the ground.

Granberia fell to the ground, looking up at the tree's, completely exhausted.

"You okay?" A worried voice yelled. Flapping wings were heard as Alma landed next to her. Granberia looked at her crossbow wound. "It's just a flesh wound." she reported, trying to ignore the strain in her own voice. "You don't look too good yourself." Alma grimaced as she finally got a good look at the cut on her wing. "Oh...I..." Alma grimaced at the pain. With a loud slither, the lamia was at their side. "Let's get out of here." She offered her tail to Alma, who climbed on it. "Some of the tree's in this massive forest contain a sap with healing properties. We just need a safe place to go find rest." Granberia, despite her injuries, rejected her offer to be carried. "I..can walk on my own." some pain from her wound still creeping into her voice despite her pride as a dragon. The lamia looked at her for a few seconds before shaking her head. "Oh right. Dragonkin. Incredibly prideful." Granberia simply shrugged before looking back at the battlefield. Now that she was not in the haze of battelust, she began to see the battlefield in a clearer light.

The dead, mutilated bodies. The red blood that stained the ground they stood. The stench of spilled entrails.

Suddenly, Granberia began to feel sick.

Alma looked back, and she immediately turned away, having similar feeling's of revulsion. Not another word was spoken as they all left the desolate clearing.

XXXXXXX

 **5 hours later**

Konner groaned as he finally pushed the damn tree off of himself. He turned to look-

and saw the gore strewn battlefield, the General dead, and the three monsters were no where in sight, while he had been badly wounded.

"Mother-

XXXX

 **Somewhere Else**

-Fucker"

A well dressed Merchant cursed. He had gotten lost, and now the rain was coming down like all around him. He had found a nearby cave, which he decided to take shelter in.

Guiding his oxen to a wooden post, he set it up and tied a rope to keep them from running off. He sat down, sighing as he considered his bad luck, only for him to recoil as he saw a big, black furred shape at the back of the cave. "A bear!" he shouted, louder than he intended too. He fell on his ass and began to back up as the bear began to rise up, much to his utter horror.

Two glowing white eyes peered at him from the darkness. With a start, he realized that the "bear" was actually a massive man wearing a dead bear over himself.

A loud grumble came from the massive man's stomach.

He grinned as he starred at the merchant and his oxen.

 **"You'll do nicely."**

Wyald ate well that night.

-END

 **A/N: I've decided that the Ubik/Conrad sidestory would reveal too much about the backstoy too early, so I've decided to push it back at a later date.**

 **Trivia: The Bone General was based on General Boscogn and Bishop Mozgus.**

 **Salamander's fighting style was based on that of the Rogue Titan from Attack On Titan.**

 **The Illias Kreuzaders are meant to be a sort precursor to Illias Kreuz.**


	5. Warrior's Spring

Chapter 5: Spring of Rest

 **Gold Forest**

Some time had passed, and the sun was beginning to set in the distance. The dying rays of sunshine illuminated the tree's as the three tired warriors walked forwards.

Granberia held onto the her shoulder, which had been shot by a crossbow. Aside from the occasional grimace, she acted like she remained unaffected.

Alma, due to the slash on her wing and the exhaustion of the battle, had taken to resting on the lamias tail as she slithered along.

The lamia still had her own crossbow wound and a slash on her chest. Nevertheless, she too remained calm and acted unaffected by her wound. Her green hair had been pulled back into a ponytail, allowing her to see more clearly.

Their journey had been in silence for a while now, which was suddenly broken when the lamia spoke. "Since we're clearly going to be together for a while, we might as well know each others names."

Alma lifted her head up, blinking at the declaration. Granberia also turned her head, having become somewhat used to the silence.

"My names Riker. Yours?"

"Granberia."

"Alma"

With introductions out of the way, they continued forwards. Eventually, Riker looked to the right and got a big smile on her face. "Ah, just what I was looking for." Slithering forwards, she went between two trees. Instead of finding even mores tree's down the path, she saw a clear pool of water big enough for the three of them at the bottom. Steam rose from it.

"It's been a while since I've seen a good hot spring." Granberia looked at her. "What's that?" She replied. Riker replied with a simple explanation. "It's a pool with hot water. It's good for relaxing." She looked around at her two companions. "We can also use it to wash the blood off of us." Granberia looked down onto herself, suddenly becoming aware of the blood she had spilled during her earlier fight.

She tried not to focus on the lives she had taken.

XXX

By now, they had hung their clothes on a nearby tree branch. Riker pulled out her spear, which she had retrieved from the archer she had killed earlier. Going up to a nearby tree, she stabbed into with her spear. Sure enough, a thick orange sap began to leak out. Grinning, she rubbed the sap onto her own wounds, just as Granberia and Alma came over to do the same.

Granberia put sap on her shoulder wound while Alma put some on her wing.

Riker immediately began heading towards the spring, Alma and Granberia following her. Lowering herself into the pool, Riker let out a content sigh, her tail spreading around in the pool. Alma dipped her feet in, her eyes widening at the hot feeling as she lowered herself into the bottom. However, she quickly grew used to it and let out a peaceful sigh of her own, her wings instinctively opening up and spreading around her. A loud smack was heard, and Alma looked to the side, seeing that she had smacked Granberia in the face by mistake. "Sorry" she said, laughing at how absurd it was. Granberia was more restrained, simply letting out a smirk as she stepped into the pool. She sat down, the steam rising and obscuring their bodies somewhat.

On her side of the hot spring, Riker held her hands out to the side of the pool. "So", she began ,"I'm guessing that you two wanna know what was happening back there?" Sitting deeper in the water, Granberia responded for the both of them quickly with "I...don't really need to know, but I am slightly interested."

Riker leaned back, her green eyebrows scrunching up in concentration.

XXX

 _"I'm a part of a warrior clan, one that was often hired by powerful monsters, and high ranked humans before the slaughter of Remina. We taught the arts of physical combat to all monsters interested in joining us. Nowadays, you youngsters tend to focus on the more..."Intimate" aspects of monster combat, but we still get plenty of volunteers each year. Anyways, we had plenty of strong warriors in our company. We pride ourselves on our ability to specialize in different weapon styles. I myself am quite good at the act of using the spear. One day, I was at a tournament in Grand Noah. Ever been there, kids?"_

 _"No"_

 _"Well, I think you guys would do well there, considering how well you fight. Not only is that city one of the few places where humans and monsters have been able to get along, it also houses a great colosseum, which is a big fighting arena. Me and my fellow soldiers were in a big free for all, alongside other visiting warriors and some native fighters, humans and monsters. It was one hell of a fight, I'll tell you that right now-_

 _-So, after the fighting ended, I'd say everyone involved felt damn satisfied. We all had this big celebration at an Inn. We had drinks, we were talking to other warriors and discussing the fights, thumbs up all around._

 _Of course, one thing led to another, and a few weeks later I was pregnant. To this day, I still don't know who it was, but it probably ain't that important._

 _I'm still a fit fighter, but nevertheless as my pregnancy advanced, the other members of my clan advised me to eventually settle down until I gave birth. I decided that I would spend my time training members of the clan. One day, I was training some new recruits in camp at this forest._

 _That's when the Illias Kreuzaders came in. They've been a thorn in our sides for awhile now, ever since the slaughter at Remina. That group of knights was never really liked, even by the other humans."_

 _"I'm guessing that the constant torturing and violent slaughters of anything heretical had something to do with that."_

 _"So, they came charging in on horseback, a large back of tamed hounds behind them. I was five months pregnant, and most of the recruits were relatively inexperienced. That didn't stop us from giving them hell. We managed to kill six of their dogs and nine swordsmen. The real danger, however, was that gauntlet wielding guy and that Bone General. They...cut through my recruits like butter. I myself was forced to reatreat after taking a few wounds. I'm not sure if anyone else made it out, though. Hopefully they will know to meet up at our outpost outside of the forest._

 _So anyways, I made it out, but they caught my scent. That's where you guys come in."_

 _XXX_

"So yeah, here we are now." Riker let out a deep breath as she finished her tale. "But hey, we took out the guys responsible, so it's alright."

Granberia spoke up, her voice somewhat quiet. "We...still killed a good amount of them. That blood on our hands..." Riker look on in confusion for a few seconds before realizing the problem. "I see, death in battle takes getting used too. This must have been your first time killing." Granberia shook her head. "The first person I killed was a vampire who had been feasting on some humans. But this was different. It's one thing when I'm fighting an ugly, scary beast. It's a whole other act to slaughter some hounds who are just doing what they've been trained to do. I heard them screaming in pain while a few injured ones tried to run away. They were afraid to die...just like anyone would."

Alma spoke up too in soft voice. "That guy with the sword that I threw into those arrows...I don't think he wanted to be there at all. He even seemed sad about having too attack me." Alma looked down at her reflection in the water. Some off the blood from the battle had not washed off yet.

Riker took a deep breath. "Taking a life is not an easy choice to make. But when you fight seriously in Life or Death situation, you have to do what you have to do to survive. Making that choice...is ultimately not something that I can some up easily. You will have to decide that for yourself when you start fighting your own battles."

Silence seemed to reign for minutes as they all sat there in the hot spring. By now, the moon was out, and it's light reflected on the water.

Alma chose this moment to speak up. Gulping, she spoke. "I...lost my village too." Granberia and Riker turned to her.

"I admit, I was wondering why you were wandering around alone." Granberia said, mentally bracing herself. After all that had happened today, she had a feeling that this story would not be a happy one.

XXX

 _"I lived in a village in this forest. Succubus Village is what we were called. We had plenty of succubi in our village, along with humans. Some of them were happy to be there. Others...weren't. Then one day...it all went horribly wrong."_

 _XXX_

 _"No Alma, don't put your thumb into your fist. You'll break it if you try to punch like that." Following her mothers instruction, she let loose a punch, Knocking down six old milk cans in front of her. In the grassy area behind the house they lived in, her mother looked on in pride. She looked almost identical to her daughter, in that she looked like a fully grown version of her, except with shoulder length hair in comparison to Alma's long hair. She thought to herself, pleasantly surprised at how Alma's seemingly silly interest in martial arts was indeed bearing fruit._

 _"With that strength, you'll have an easy time holding cute boys down." She said, laughing while Alma blushed and looked away._

 _That is when disaster struck._

 _Suddenly, an explosion was heard in the center of the town. A massive storm of dust and smoke was sent up into the air. They were both sent to their knees, coughing and sputtering. That was when they heard the cruel, deep voice of the attacker._

 **"Have I gotten your attention yet?"**

 _From that point on, everything went to hell._

 _XXX_

 _Alma's mother held her daughter close as they navigated through the burning village. Smoke and flame rose into the air, blocking off what they could see and forcing them to navigate the path by looking down at the path itself. This is when they first happen upon the killer._

 _Hunched over a dead succubi's body, tearing noises could heard as he greedily ripped something off. Then, crunching sounds were heard as he hungrily bit into the flesh he had ripped into, blood spraying to the side of him. Alma got ready to gasp in horror, only for her mother to cover her mouth. "Don't look" she whispered, and the young succubus did so as they tried to walk around him._

 _Once again, things went horribly wrong. Turning his head, he saw them out of the corner of his eyes. A sadistic, bloody grin bloomed onto his apelike face as he callously threw the partially eaten corpse of his latest victim to the side. **"Fresh Meat..."** he whispered, his unthinkable intentions clear. Her mother held on tight as she reached for something on the ground. "Alma, when I say run..." She began. "Run!" With a tremendous roar, she let go of Alma, picking up a long glass shard on the ground as she swung it right at Wyald's face.  
_

 _It shattered instantly on contact, creating only the thinnest of cuts. Wyald was clearly amused by this._

 _" **I like you already."** Grabbing her sides with both arms, he pulled her up, the fire creating a hellish backdrop as he ignored her struggles. Alma looked on, locked in place by sheer horror. Her mother turned to her, an expression of panic on her face. "_ _Run! Run as fast as you can! Run until you can't see this village behind you anymore!" Alma snapped out of her daze. "But you-" "Just go!" Her mother shouted, loud enough to startle Alma into compliance. Ignoring the sheer, paralyzing terror she felt, Alma turned and ran as Wyald's mouth began to open wide._

 _As she turned the corner, she heard him bite down with a sickening crack._

 _It was a sound that she would never forget for as long as she lived._

 _XXX_

Alma finally finished her story, her breathing heavy. Riker was lost in thought. "By the First!" she said, looking at her reflection in the water.

Granberia too had a look of horror on her face, wondering how she could respond to what she had just learned about her new friend. " _What should I do-That's it!"_ She said, the solution coming to her. Walking up to Alma, she put a hand on her shoulder. Alma looked up in surprise. In the moonlight, Granberia looked wise beyond her years. "Alma, do you miss your mother? Those who lived in your village?"

"Yes" she responded softly. Granberia continued her speech. "Do you want to avenge them?"

Her hands tightened into fists. "I do."

Granberia's voice grew serious. "Then, fight! You can become a warrior like me." As Alma and Riker looked at her, Granberia kept speaking. "You've seen those human "Heroes"." She continued, disgusted at the idea of people like the Kreuzaders. "They were just mindless butchers. They don't know what it means to be a true hero, or a true Knight, no, a warrior! A warrior fights not only for the sake of it, but for so much more." By now, her voice had become louder, harder. "A true warrior fights to protect those who cannot, to save those who cannot save themselves. They fight to inspire others to do the same, to unleash their potential! To show the world that senseless cruelty and barbarity will not be allowed, not be tolerated as long as the steel in the warriors hand is held high!"

Standing up, Granberia released the large breath she had been holding. Astonished, Riker and Alma looked at her with wide eyes. At that point, Riker couldn't help herself. "...Kid, that. Was. Awesome!" Letting a large grin grow over her face, she made an offer. "Look, if you ever want to join my clan, I can show you where to find us." Granberia seemed to contemplate this, before shaking her head. "I may someday, but currently I am still training." Alma then proceed to look up to Granberia, her eyes shining with hopeful awe. "Granberia, I've always thought about becoming a fighter, but this just...proves it! Please let me meet your teacher!" She shouted, grabbing the other girl's shoulders. Granberia yelped out in surprise as they both tripped and fell into the water. Not even trying to avoid the massive splash, Riker grinned and held her arms behind her as a storm of water slammed onto her. "Kids..." She thought, laughing at how peaceful the somber day had unexpectedly become.

XXX

 **The Mountains of Noah**

In the cold blizzard a large, dark figure walked through the snow.

With a wicked grin on his face, Wyald though about his last meal as he licked his bloodstained lips.

The man and his oxen had proven to be most welcome mid night snack, yet his belly was still not full. **"Not enough screaming involved"** He said aloud to himself, looking at his club. Dried blood from various species lined it, pride filling the beastman as he began to think more about where he was heading. **"That merchants book was very informative. It's been a while since I sat down to read."** Now that he knew more about the world around him, he wondered how he should proceed. " **Those dragon things look a bit dangerous, but nothings stopping me from going full apeshit if they try to stop me. 'Sides, where I'm going, I probably wont have to worry much."**

 **"Heh, these kitsunes sure sound like an energetic bunch. I wonder if their screams will be as exciting as their tails."**

With that, Wyald turned his hellish gaze towards Yamatai Village as he continued to walk forwards, the raging storm hanging over him like a shadow.

 **After all, nothing in the world could stop him now.**

Arrogance was always one of his major flaws.

- **To Be Continued in: The Black Dog, Once More.**

 **A/N:**

 **I will work on the next chapter, starting on Christmas Day.**

 **Afterwards, I will start writing a separate, Gnome based story crossing over with Dwarf Fortress. I may or may not tie it into the Black Dog.**

 **Any feedback would be much appreciated.**


	6. The Black Dog, Once More

Chapter 6: The Black Dog, Once More

XXX

Wyald marched through the snowy blizzard, unbothered by the cold. As he made his way towards Yamatai, he took this moment to think.

 _ **"Huh, I wonder what's going on back home."**_ Ever since he had found himself in this mad world, he had not thought much about Midland. After all, he was essentially in paradise now. No need to think about when he died. In fact, he didn't really care about why and how he was at this place. Still, he was curious over what had happened to the Hawks.

 _The Hawk Raider._ Wyald couldn't help but briefly shiver at the thought. That human, whoever the hell he was, managed to beat him. No way around it.

The human had managed to match him blow for blow when Wyald was in his human form. Every trick Wyald used, punching out the man's horse, grabbing his sword, _biting his sword,_ did nothing but slow him down briefly.

For the first time in a hundred years, Wyald had been afraid.

Hiding his fear under laughter and boisterous boasting, Wyald then transformed into his apostle form. The battle than began to completely turn in Wyald's favor, but-

 **SNIKT**

No one had ever managed to hurt him so bad.

At least that part of him was restored in this world.

The battle that followed was absolutely brutal. Wyald punched and the Raider sliced, and they were both bleeding and near death at the end of it.

Somehow, the swordsman survived. When Wyald was crawling around bleeding and screaming, guaranteed to die, the warrior was still alive, and probably still able to fight. A mere human somehow managed to live through a fight that brought an apostle to the brink of death. This was not natural.

At least nothing like him was in this world. At the same time, Wyald knew that he would never get his revenge. Not knowing or caring about how to travel back to Midland meant that the swordsman would essentially get away with hurting him.

The bastard was probably off living out his days in peace, might have hung up his sword. He'd killed the beast and saved his commander. Now he was likely retired at the Midland border. Probably living in a cottage like a damn fairy tale.

XXX

 **Koka, Midland**

 _Something was burning._

 **"No! Stop-"** _The Snake apostle screamed in agony, helpless, as Guts fired his crossbow into the monsters face, again and again. Guts suddenly felt the urge to laugh maniacally as he fired away._

 _It did little to bring relief as blood slid down from the Brand on his neck._

 _XXX_

With that dark-skinned woman too, the only one who had ever gotten away from him. They probably lived together, kids on the way, peaceful. They probably watched stars at night together, safe in each others arms.

XXX

 **The Hill of Swords, Midland**

 _Even though her mind had been reduced to that of a child, even though she had begun to forget the close bond she shared with the man she loved, Casca couldn't help but feel a profound sense of sadness as she stared at the snow covered hill, the last resting place of the Hawks._

 _XXX_

Wyald growled with anger, steam rising from his body.

He took several deep breaths as he tried to calm down.

The Band of the Hawk was no longer his problem, even though they were likely living like kings now. Probably sold their services to Chuder.

XXX

 _''The Prophecy was not mistaken. The "Red Lake" has appeared."_

 _XXX_

At least he could get one small victory. Griffith was likely dead by now. No way he could have lived long with those injuries. Probably passed away in the night. Sure, the Hawks would mourn, but they would go on.

Wyald smiled thinly, only wishing that he could have done the deed himself.

XXX

 _"You...were the only the one... to make me forget my dream..."_

 **I Sacrifice**

XXX

Than last of all...there was Zodd. **Nosferatu Zodd**.

Wyald paused, shivering for a moment before he continued forwards. Zodd had been the one who ultimately killed Wyald, ripping him in half and tearing his guts out. If the Hawk Raider scared him, Zodd completely terrified Wyald. No way he could ever beat a monster like that.

Still, at least there was nothing like that in this world.

By now, he had finally broken through the blizzard. Snowy peaks gave way to grassy plains. If the map was right, he was headed straight towards Yamatai.

He would do well to make sure that everyone there would know **Enjoyment and Excitement.**

XXX

 **Succubus Village**

The nine tailed Kitsune knew that this would not be an easy night when she stepped foot into the remains of Succubus Village.

That elder succubus who lived in the Monster Lord's castle had gotten a message from a carrier familiar. Apparently, the village had come under attack. Lots of casualties. And at the center of it was a massive human, the one who had managed to instigate this tragedy. The note had clearly been written and sent hastily, and it seemed to have been dated hours earlier. Alipheese decided to send Tamamo to investigate, knowing just how strong and experienced she was. The sheer distance took up a good amount of power because of the teleportation she used, but Tamamo knew that she could still fight.

Then she saw the village.

Dead bodies littered amongst burnt out wreckage.

Mother's had died holding their children.

Some bodies lay impaled on wood in a feral display of cruelty. Some of the human males appeared to have died next to the succubi they had been paired with.

While Tamamo knew very well that some of the humans in the village did not come here willingly, plenty were happy to "serve." It was a fact of life, one she accepted during her countless years of life. On the surface, she appeared calm, only one eyebrow twitching on her head. On the inside however, Tamamo felt something bottling up inside of her. Something raw, something fiery that wanted to be let out. Keeping her emotions in check with all she had, she continued to look around for survivors.

All she found was her own personal horror show.

Some bodies had bites taken out of them. Others had burned alive. She was soon unable to tell humans from succubi with the sheer extent of the trauma inflicted on the victims.

Clinically, she took a closer look, focusing as hard as she could.

 _''Blunt Trauma, likely done with some kind of club. The sheer strength needed to pull of limbs. The massive bites taken out. The amount of destruction delivered. The suspect was a human male. But all this...Perhaps a sign of Monster ancestry? Dragon for bites? Orc for strength?_ _Human's born with monster abilities from their parents are rare. Mutation? Something new entirely?"_

Still deep in thought, she reached the Chief's house. It was in ruins.

She walked through the ruins, observing damaged stone and artifacts. She reached a collapsed room from the looks of it. Pulling open the a damaged door, her eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness inside. She first spotted the torn up fabric of what remained of what appeared to be a dress. One worn by the Chief, if she remembered correctly.

It didn't take long to find what was left of the Chief, along with the corpse of another succubus.

She quickly saw the state of the bodies.

She stood there, absolutely still for five solid minutes. It took a lot to rend her speechless. This was one of those moments.

A crack formed underneath her feet as she unconsciously drew the breath of the Earth into her body. As the room began to collapse around her, the gnawing feeling in her chest began to make sense.

 **Pure, untamed rage.**

It had been a long, long time since she had hated someone so much.

Walking forwards, she felt her stoicism began to slip. She soon found a massive pair of foot prints in the ground, bigger than the other ones around.

It led out of the village.

Pressing her nose against the foot prints, she smelt ape hair much to her confusion.

Bracing her hands into the ground, Tamamo drew as much of the Earth's power as she could into her body.

 _The footprints seemed to create mental map in her head. She could see the trail of footprints stretching out through the forest surrounding the village. The trail seemed to grow and head for-_

Her mental map shattered as she began to breathe heavily, her eyes wide.

The killer was on his way to Yamatai.

No,-he was right on the edge of her home.

Drawing all of her strength once again, Tamamo stomped the ground, cracking it as she back flipped into the sky with all of her might.

She repeated this process repeatedly, knocking down trees and shattering stone as she went as fast as her tails could carry her.

Hopefully she would get there in time.

XXX

 **Yamatai**

Wyald looked at sign in front of him, and his smile widened considerably. He held his club as he continued walking forwards. Tree's surrounded him, and he felt his excitement grow as he walked under the cover of darkness. He was eager to hear some screams. He thought about breaking through the front entrance like last time, but then he decided that he would attack from the back for a change. That would be fun. Of course, his performance would need to make a maximum impact on his victims.

Then he got an idea.

Grinning widely, he walked up to a tree and punched it with his dark nailed fist. The tree fell down with a tremendous thud. Grabbing onto it, he held on with both hands. He dragged it behind him only to hear a tapping sound approaching him. Guards.

"We shouldn't be out here big sister.."

"Didn't your hear that? Nothing exciting ever happens around here, let's see what that noise was-"

He turned his head and saw what appeared to be two little white haired girls wearing kimonos with the lower half's of snakes.

Not guards, just kids. Either that Snake Baron had been getting busy, or some kids had been in the wrong place. He had half a mind to splatter them, but he pushed that thought away.

He wanted them to see what would happen next.

Then they would die screaming.

Their eyes widened in fear when they saw him. In the darkness, his pale eyes shone like pinpricks. " **Shh**." He said as he made a shushing gesture. **"Stay there, and you might see something fun. Move or scream, and I'll drop the tree on you."** Staying still, the lamia kids dully nodded as they held onto one another. Chuckling quietly to himself, he walked near a good set of tree's. Peering through the spaces, he saw the back of the village.

Humans and monsters walked around together near wooden houses. Some kind of cat thing was playing around in a pool of water. Some older looking people were kneeling in prayer in front of a shrine of sorts, one that depicted a large, nine tailed fox.

Well, better late than never.

Wyald ran forwards, laughing as he held the tree like a battering ram. He busted through several smaller trees, before he slammed his way through a house, and it collapsed on top of him. As the dust settled around him, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him in shock.

On a hill a head of him, a white haired, white tailed lamia wearing plate armor glared at him as she held up a curved sword. Alongside her, several human guards began to pace down the hill at him.

Wyald just grinned as he threw the tree forwards.

He was rewarded with a brutal splattering sound. The tree slammed through the men, turning them into red paint while the lamia barely dodged to the side, the tree grazing her as she tumbled down the hill into a pool. Pulling his club from his side, Wyald laughed maniacally.

 **"Tonight's act is going to cost and arm and a leg, don't be afraid to step up!''** He howled with laughter as he began to swing at every living thing in sight as humans and monsters began to run away from him.

"Mighty Fox save us-"

"No please I have a family-"

Wyald got his enjoyable, exciting night.

Blood rained on him.

Only two minutes passed, and he was already having tons of fun.

"I can't feel my legs!"

 **"Shame."** Wyald chuckled as he bit into a severed limb. At that moment, he felt a sting in his arm.

He turned and saw a blade buried into his left arm. It had gone through the fur and stopped after coming into contact with his thick flesh. At the end of the blade, a human soldier with a big black beard held onto it and grunted as he struggled to bring it downwards.

Not for long.

 **"Huh, you cut right through the armor, but looks like my arm was too much for you."** Grabbing the blade with his other arm, he casually pulled the blade out and squeezed it.

The katana shattered under his strength. As the man's eye's widened, he casually struck him with his club. He slammed down into the ground, blood pooling under him. "Father!" two young voices yelled amidst the battlefield.

Wyald saw the two young white haired lamias slithering forwards. He then looked at the man, who lay still.

It all made sense now. **"Want to join Papa?"** He cruelly laughed as he turned to them. They once again stiffened in horror when they saw him. Before he took a single step, the man's eyes opened and he lunged at Wyald with the broken edge of his sword. Don't your dare murderer!" He sprung at him-

and he grabbed his outstretched sword arm mid air. **"Now that's just rude."** He taunted before he thrust a clawed hand into his abdomen. He looked him right in the eye's as he bled in out in front him. They were full of fear.

Not for him.

For his children.

 **"They'll join you shortly."** Wyald cruelly laughed. Sliding his bloody claw out, he dropped the dead father to ground. He then walked towards the white haired lamia kids.

They clung to each other, tears in their eyes. Their tales flicked around in agitation.

In the moonlight, Wyald's bloodstained form looked like it was from Hell.

He slowly began to lift his club up-

and then a stick flicked against the back of his helmet. Groaning in annoyance, he turned and his mood turned right around.

In front of him was a small Kitsune. She had seven yellow tails, and while she had the upper half of a human, she had the lower half of a fox. Her red eyes peered at him, and she had her hands on her hips. "You bully!'' she yelled, waving a stick at him. Wyald's grin widened almost impossibly wide.

He had finally found a kitsune.

 **"Ready to die?"**

The kitsune threw another stick at him. "Your a mean guy, and Mama say's I shouldn't let mean guys bully people around!"

 ** _"Huh, so this one's really young, maybe four or five? She's probably too young really understand this situation."_**

 ** _"I'm gonna love breaking her."_**

"Nanabi! Get back inside!" A woman's voice called, stricken with horror. **"Nanabi, eh?"** Wyald said as he laughed. **"Hello then, I'm Wyald, and I really love the sound of screaming."** He moved forwards with insane speed, grabbing her by her tails. She yelped out in surprise as he held her in the air in front of him. By now, the survivors of his rampage were either numb with horror or trying to run forwards.

Wyald loved it when a crowd formed. He held Nanabi out like a shield, deterring anyone who tried to come forwards. He could see the horror and anguish in their eyes.

 **"So Kid,"** he whispered as she tried to squirm out of his grip. Absorbed in the coming murder, he did not hear the rapid stomping behind him. **"Let's see how much fuckin blood's in you!''** He prepared to swing-

Only to blink rapidly in surprise when he found his clubbing arm halted. Something was grabbing it and holding it still. **"The fuck-"** He looked down and saw another small kitsune, this one with nine tails, wearing a kimono with blonde hair and green eyes looking at him. At the same time, he didn't notice one of her tails reaching behind the hand holding Nanabi. A frown on her face was the only indication of any feelings on her seemingly stoic face. Before he could react, she poked him between his ribs.

By the time Wyald realized what was happening, Tamamo had sent him flying backwards through a house twenty feet away.

As he slammed through the rubble, yelling out in surprise, Tamamo gently set Nanabi down. She patted the young kitsune on the head. As the young girl tilted her head, a bigger seven tail with a body similar to Nanabi's ran forwards. "Nanabi, thank the first!" She cried out as she held her daughter to her chest.

Tamamo couldn't help but let out a small smile before she turned back towards Wyald. A grim frown settled on her face.

Wyald's bear belt helmet had fallen off, revealing his messy head of black hair. **"I'm gonna fucking skin you alive!''** He screamed, blood and spittle flying from his lips, his cheerfulness gone as he began to lift his club out of the rubble. Behind her, several villagers had pulled out pitchforks and other assorted farm tools. Her mere presence seemed to change the mood from despair to hope. "Might Fox! Let us help you!" they shouted. "Nya!" a grey haired neko exclaimed as she held up a battle axe. "Don't get involved, I will do this." She responded, yet she couldn't help but feel pride in how quickly they were willing to fight. "Please-" One of them said, but Tamamo put her foot down. Cracks appeared in the Earth around her. "I don't want anyone getting hurt. Stay out of this!" She spoke, this time more harshly. Suddenly, the people gasped as Wyald ran forwards, screaming and roaring as he held his club in both hands. Tamamo just stood and watched as he drew closer.

Roaring with rage, Wyald brought his club down onto Tamamo's skull with all of his strength.

His eyes widened as his entire club shattered into bits on her forehead.

Tamamo stood there, her eyes hidden under her hair. A single drop of blood, so small it may have been invisible, fell from her forehead, and that was all. She cracked her neck.

"My turn."

Thrusting her head forwards, Tamamo head-butted Wyald right in his chest. He yelled out in pain as the middle part of his chest armor shattered, and he flew through the air, going past the tree's where he had busted into Yamatai.

Bracing herself on her knee, Tamamo jumped after him.

XXX

On the green grass outside of Yamatai, Wyald groaned, spitting up blood as Tamamo slowly walked towards him. He wobbled around like a drunkard. This wasn't supposed to happen. He was strong, nothing could stop him.

Rain began to fall from the sky, drenching them.

Wyald thrust his head back, howling as steam emitted from his mouth. He ran forwards, mindless with rage as his hand curled up in a fist. He sent a punch flying at Tamamo.

She simply held up her palm, letting it connect. She grabbed his hand and squeezed.

 **SNAP**

Wyald drew his fist back, screaming in pain. His fingers were bleeding and bent.

Tamamo ignored his cries as her tails shot forwards. They slammed into Wyald's chest and body like rapid cannon fire, destroying the rest of his armor and pounding into him with a brutal smashing sound, blood spilling from the cracks formed on him.

He weakly fell forwards, blood spilling from his jaw. Wyald tried to slam his arms into the side of her head. Two tails shot upwards, destroying the furry gauntlets on his arms. Another tail snaked around his neck. He gagged as she tightened her grip. Snarling, he bit down on her tail.

If Tamamo was hurt, she didn't show it.

With a loud yell, Tamamo let her anger be known. Her tail flung Wyald into a nearby tree, knocking it right down. Wyald coughed, puking up blood and chunks of meat as he got to his knees. Grimacing, he pulled a chunk of sharp wood out of his back.

He ran at her, raising the tree chunk like a dagger. Tamamo dodged to the side, and a tail shot out, tripping him, and at the same time another tail slammed into his back. Wyald gasped out in pain as he slid through the mud. Steam rose from his wounds.

He could just turn into his apostle form, but-

 _By doing that, he was admitting that she was stronger than him._

 _He remembered being humiliated by a swordsman._

"Wow, Tamamo really is the coolest!" An excited voice said.

Wyald and Tamamo immediately turned around and saw Nanabi standing behind a tree. "Kick his butt, Tamamo!'' She excitedly shouted as she punched the air.

Wyald let a grin loose at Tamamo's horrified face. **"That's my way out of here."** He immediately began to drag himself forwards with all his might. He ran forwards on all four of his limbs, laughing as blood trailed down his mouth.

A yellow tail grabbed his leg. He was flung backwards onto the ground. He tried to pull himself up, but her foot slammed down onto his chest as the rain began to pour down furiously. "Go!" Tamamo said, referring to Nanabi. The young kitsune blinked. "But-"

"NOW!" Tamamo yelled. Nodding in surprise, Nanabi turned and ran. She looked down at Wyald, who struggled and roared under her foot. Drawing back, wet in the rain, Tamamo punched Wyald right in his head.

 **THUNK**

He gurgled out in pain as a tooth was sent flying from his upper jaw.

Her fists thundered down onto his head five more times, spilling more blood and becoming louder each time. Her hands were stained, a tooth was lodged in her left hand, and his face was blue and bloody.

Tamamo let out an angry growl as her tails grabbed Wyald's legs and lifted him over her head.

It had been a long, long, time since she had hated anyone so much.

Running forwards, she flung him down onto the stump of the fallen tree. A brutal crunch rang out as the stump shattered under his weight. He rolled off, groaning as his wounds began to take their toll.

Walking away from him, she grabbed the fallen tree and lifted it up with her hands and tail. Wyald walked backwards, hunched over weakly.

 **" no..nuh.."** He weakly moaned as he stumbled about, trying in vain to walk away.

"You think your some kind of ultra badass because you murdered some innocent villagers? Honestly, I don't know where you came from and what you are, and I don't care. The second you met someone who could actually fight back, you fell like a pack of cards. And you instantly run for a hostage because your afraid of dying, aren't you? Doesn't that scare you? Your not just some schoolyard bully who never grew up," She hefted the tree in the air, positioning it like a baseball player about to swing. ''You murder and kill because you think it somehow makes you the bigger man, becauase you're showing that your not afraid of death. Specifically, you want to believe that you can make yourself less afraid of dying by inflicting it on others." ...Right?"

Wyald's eyes reignited with a familiar rage. " **Kil...ou..."** He growled as walked forwards, stumbling with his undamaged claw outstretched. **"no...weak..i..win..do...this...tak..you...ta...hell...wit..me"**

"If I see you anywhere near Hell,"

... **start praying."** She reared back fully, a furious expression on her face, and in that moment, Wyald didn't feel that he was looking at Tamamo.

For one brief moment, Wyald found himself staring at Nosferatu Zodd.

Once again, Wyald felt fear.

Thunder struck behind them.

She swung the tree right at him point blank.

It was quick.

Wyald was there one moment, and then he wasn't.

In the distant snow covered mountains, Tamamo saw an explosion of snow as something fell from the sky. And she heard a rough impact echo in her ears.

Dropping the tree to ground, she walked away, uncaring of how soaked she was.

Her people needed her.

Whatever that thing was, he likely died on impact.

Had to.

XXX

 _Inside a bedroom, an old man coughed._

 _It was his last day._

 _He had lived a long life. Raised a family. Lived beyond the age of 30, which was already quite the achievement for a peasant farmer._

 _Now, after all these years, his lifespan was finally nearing it's end._

 _He had his regrets, of course._

 _He coughed, blood spilling out. At least he wasn't alone. Near his bed, a young boy with long black hair sat next to him. He looked on sympathetically before raising a pail of water to the old man's lips. The man drank, and when he coughed again, it only came out as little sputter. He thanked the boy, who nodded before going out to fetch some more water. The old man as left with his thoughts._

 _Now he knew his regrets. Nothing major happened to him. He wasn't attacked by a bear. Bandits never pillaged his farm. He wasn't drafted into the army to fight in the war. He had lived a peaceful, uneventful life. And that was exactly what he hated._

 _He never had any excitement in his life. All he wished for was to have done something with his time. Instead, he stayed on the farm, doing the same task's for countless years, never seizing an opportunity to do something truly special._

 _And what did all these years lead to? Him dying in this bed, waiting to rejoin his wife who had passed away years ago? His only son had run off to join the army when he was eighteen. Then, some guy that looked important dropped off the boy at this house. Told the old man that his son died in battle. Apparently, the boy was his grandson. His own son instructed that he be dropped off to the old man in the event of his death._

 _Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. An extra hand around the house was nice._

 _Now, he just wished for it to end, as he regretted and reviewed his life. He could've joined his boy on the battlefield an lived a life of excitement. Instead of spending all his time at the farm, he could've gone to the bar more. Instead of that one time where he met the woman who became his wife, he could've made more friends, could've learned from them how to live a life of enjoyment._

 _He felt a pounding noise come from his heart, and then the world began to fade to black slowly._

 _It was time._

 _He let out one final cough, sending a trickle of blood to down his bed next to him._

 _Underneath his bed, something brown and egg shaped rolled from under it. His blood fell on it as his eyes began to close._

 _"...Grandpa?"_

 _Then, the world exploded into white light._

 **"Say the words, and we shall grant you a body that will know true power. You shall know no sickness, and the toils of time will not harm you. You will be stronger, faster, just say it!"**

I...

 **I SACRIFICE**

 **XXX**

The sun rose over the mountains as a large white crater lay in the ground, snow softly filling it.

Suddenly, a large muscley hand punched it's way through the snow. Something large and bloody began to rise, shaking off the frost.

 **"No..."** Wyald growled as he pulled himself out. He limped forwards, holding onto his injured hand.

 **"I'll never be weak like that again...I'll never die slowly again...I won't ever hesitate again..."**

Steam shrouded his body as it began the slow process of healing itself. It wasn't as good as Zodd's, but it would get the job done.

 **"Have to be careful...can't rush next time...I'm still not the strongest, but what do I do...?"**

Wyald paused in his tracks. He had an idea. An awful, horrible idea.

Then he grinned. Then he laughed. Soon, full on psychotic mania set in as he laughed and shook nonstop.

 **"I know just what to do..."**

Wyald limped forward, still laughing despite his earlier humiliation.

 **''Now...how did that fat bastard do it?"**

 **-END**

 **XXX**

 **A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed seeing Wyald finally get his ass kicked. If anyone feels that I went too far, let me know.**

 **Next chapter will once again feature Alma and Granberia. Additionally, we get to see some aftermath of the Yamatai attack.**

 **Trivia: Tamamo's "fight" with Wyald was based off of Frank Castle's beat down of Jigsaw in Punisher: War Zone.**

 **The title is a reference to a chapter of Berserk, ''The Black Swordsman, Once More."**

 **Any reviews or feedback are much appreciated.**


	7. Enjoyment

Mini-Chapter: Enjoyment

XXX

After crawling for what must have been an entire day, Wyald was now able to limp forwards on one leg. His other foot dragged behind him, and his broken wrist hung limply at his side. In the snow, his large body was at least obscured. Alone, and with few other creatures around this early in the morning, he only had his thoughts. As steam began to rise from the half of his face that had been shattered under that….. _monsters_ fist, his unmarred side sneered in contemplation. He spat out a broken tooth as new teeth began to grow.

 _"_ _Stupid….I forgot the importance of the performance. When trying to make an impact, I should have probably tried to be more creative..fuck, charging in like that is how I got my ass broken in the first place."_

Wyald soon came to the edge of a cliff, overlooking numerous snowy slopes. In the very far distance, he could see a hint of green. _"Alright then, I need to start acting more like a solider and less like a warrior. Still, I haven't trained a day in my life."_

 **"** **But now's the time to try."** Wyald said aloud to himself, his face having begun to near the end of it's regeneration. Raising his fist back, Wyald dove it into the ground. At the same time, an explosion of steam burst from his body.

 **"** **Ah…it's good to be back."** When the smoke cleared away, Wyald was now three meters in size. White hair covered his body as an eye grew on his left and right shoulder, and his chest respectively. His now white haired human form lay on top of a large, fur-covered body with a massive mouth in the middle of it.

For the first time in weeks, Wyald transformed into his Apostle form.

Pulling his fist out of the ground, Wyald held a large chunk of stone in his hand. Rearing back, he threw it as far into the distance as he could. The stone sailed through the air before skidding across the snow, sending up large plumes of white before it stopped. **"So my archery skills could use some improvement."** Wyald mused as he tossed another stone, this one skidding further into a nearby clearing covered in snowcapped trees. The tree's were knocked to the side, sticking out in left and right leaning positions as the stone rolled to a stop. Standing back, Wyald tore a particularly large piece out of the edge before him. This one looked big enough to fit in his giant mouth.

 **"** **Wait a minute."** Quickly thinking, he tossed it in. His large lower mouth chewed and crunched up the stone, and then with a quick contraction of his muscles, a barrage of rock burst from his maw. Like a storm of artillery fire, the rocks rained down onto the tree's, ripping them into two and fully knocking them down. Wyald laughed as he scratched his head.

 **"** **I didn't know I could do that! This could come in handy…."**

One last thing to try. Backtracking twenty feet from the edge, Wyald suddenly ran forwards.

Laughing manically, he jumped from the edge. **"Wyald Jump!"**

As he slammed down onto the earth below, sending a flurry of frost and branches into the air, Wyald knew that there was something he would need. **"I'm gonna need an army…it doesn't matter if they aren't willing. I can rule by fear."** He sighed nostalgically as a crack of steam heralded his return to human form, remembering the Black Dog Knights.

 **"** **But if all goes according to plan, I won't have to worry much about keeping everyone in line."**

 **After all, that freak never had any problems with making an army, so why should I?**

 **XXX**

 **Elsewhere**

 _"Guts...I remember everything..the Hawks...Griffith...the l-lake!"_

 _The sound of someone falling, then armor clanking._

 _"I'm right here, Casca. I'm..so sorry that he-"_

 _"Don't blame yourself Guts. Because I'm going to kill him."_

 _I'm going to kill Griffith._

 _..._

 _"Guts, don't let go of me. Let's stay like this for a while."_

 _Minutes passed, only the rustling of the wind around them._

 _"..I've been waiting so long for this."_

 _"Me too, Guts. Thank you for taking of her for so long."_

 _"Thank you for taking care of Elaine."_

"Farnese, let's stay back. This is their moment, not ours."

"I couldn't agree more, Master."

XXX

 **Work on the next full chapter begins now. A new side story called "Gnome Fortress" is up in the MGQ/Dwarf Fortress crossover section.**


	8. Father's Day

**Berserk: Father's Day**

The old farmer was digging a hole when he received the bad news.

"Mr...Wyatt, I presume? I regret to inform you that your son perished at the Battle of-"

He wasn't surprised when he heard that his son had died. Hell, the boy had ran off to join the army years ago at the tender age of sixteen. Decades had passed. His father, now an old man, simply nodded as this news was delivered to him.

It was on a sunny day, on a farmstead surrounded by rocky hills and wooden fences. Down a hill, one could see an idle looking town. The farm was simple, one barn and a small house not far from it.

His family had worked on this farm for generations, and he had inherited it from his father, as did his father from his grandfather. The farmer had lived and worked on the farm for years, only going to town every now and then for supplies and ale. The farm and the village next to it was located deep in Midland itself, thankfully far from the border and the raids that naturally came with the war.

The old farmer was not a very notable person. He was head shorter than the armored Midland soldier delivering the news to him, and he remained focused on his digging, his small head of white hair barely protecting him from the sun.

XXX

 _His life was a simple one: He worked on the farm, sold what he grew, then used that money to get supplies to do it all again. It was not very exciting, but it was simple and routine. Wild animal attacks and the like were very rare, and he was too old to be conscripted into the army ever since that war broke out with Chuder a few years ago. He occasionally went to town and had a drink, but that was the gist of his interactions with those in the village. The only one he really ever connected to was his wife, a woman who was as plain and apathetic as he was._

 _Indeed they had met in a pub, gotten drunk, and did what drunken young people usually do together._

 _Four weeks later, she came to him, confessing that she felt sick._

 _Another week passed, and they were married._

 _His parents passed away not long after, and he and his wife worked at the farm. Nothing much changed, really. Like his mother and father before him, he and his wife worked, sold, worked, and sold. It was a life that didn't sound all that grand, but it was peaceful for what it was worth._

 _Than she had their child. A boy, he was nearly the complete opposite of his parents. Where they_ _preferred peace and quiet, he seemed to enjoy running and making noise. Where they didn't speak much except when they were doing business, he really liked to talk, often asking about the world. Of course, having lived most of their lives on the farm (Apart from the occasional bit of news at the pub), they rarely had anything much to say that didn't involve farming._

 _While they were content with a simple life of farming, the boy wasn't. While he never said it out loud, one just had to take one look at the son's frustrated face to know that he did not enjoy the work, that he wanted something more._

 _On the exact day that he turned sixteen, he finally ran out, yelling something about how "The army will actually be exciting!". He and his wife watched, shrugged, and got back to work._

 _He never wrote back to them, so they assumed he was busy or dead. When the farmer's wife took ill years later, he still remained in the army. They understood, he had a job to do._

 _When his wife finally passed away, he still had a faint hope that his son would come home._

 _When five years passed without any word from the front, the old man simply picked up a rake and went back to work, apathetic as usual._

XXX

The soldier delivering the news wore shining steel plate-he was clearly of high status-as he delivered the information. If the man was bothered by the old man's nonchalance, he didn't show it.

"With his dying words, your son has bequeathed his surviving progeny to you-"

This made the old man pause. Wait, was that what he thought it meant-

From behind the soldier, a young boy with long black hair stepped forwards. He looked up at the farmer, eyes wide. "Grandpa?"

Son of a bitch.

XXX

Wild.

That's the best way the boy could be described, as the old man thought. He loved to run, to dash around the farm, laughing to himself, even more so than his father.

Which made it all the more surprising was the fact that the boy enjoyed the work. He did not complain like his father did, actively seeming to love being near the animals.

Soon, he and his grandfather were working side by side in the field. After these years, despite his usual apathy, it was nice to have some extra help once more.

When he decided to ask the boy if he knew the identity of his mother, he shyly responded that he "didn't really know".

The old man decided to leave that train of thought alone for now.

So, peaceful days came and went as usual, the old man still doing his job mechanically, only slightly stirred by the world around him.

Then came the day the boy broke the wall down.

XXX

Five years passed, and the boy was now a healthy preteen, still excitable as ever.

It was night. The farmer was starting to nod off in a creaky wooden chair, while the kid was walking around upstairs, apparently having fun with sliding up and down the stairs.

That's when he heard a crash and a yelp of surprise from above. Sighing, he got to his feet, somewhat sluggishly due to his age. Wandering upstairs, he wondered what mess the boy had gotten himself into now-

He found him sitting dazed next to a part of the wall that had been broken open. A stream of dust poured out, and as he sighed, a book fell out from the hole. Picking it up, he looked into the hole.

He paused at what he saw.

Inside the hole, multiple books lay in a circle. In the middle of the circle lied the skeleton of a small animal. Reaching in, despite the bizarre sight, he picked it up for closer inspection. The boy shivered and hid behind his grandfather, rightfully finding it bizarre.

While it had the body of a rat, it had been largely modified.

Three snake skulls, with part of the necks, had been tied with rope to the socket where it's head used to be, as if to replace the head of the rat. On it's back, four bony bat wings had been strung across the spine, with the wings spread open like the creature was bout to take flight. He told the boy to go fetch a lantern, and he immediately dashed downstairs, not wanting to be near the skeleton any longer. The old man continued his inspection.

All the limbs had been removed from the rats sockets, and there the space was filled by what appeared to be human finger bones, which loosely hung from the where they had been crudely fitted on to replace the limbs. In the back, at the spot where the rats tail would be, the skull of a small crow had been fitted, with he beak opened like it was in mid screech.

It was clearly an abomination, this barely held together forgery. Some would have dropped it. Other would have burned it. But to the old man, it was….interesting.

Why would someone make this? Who made this? How did it get into his walls?

For the first time in awhile, the corners of the old man's mouth began to twitch. For the first time in a while, he felt excitement.

And then the thing crumbled to dust in his hands just after he committed it's design to memory.

He sighed, disappointed, as the boy walked back up the stairs with the lantern.

Peering into the smashed wall, he the light illuminated the insides.

Scratches lined the inside of the wall, like something was in there. On the ground where he had found the messed up skeleton, the some words had been carved into the ground.

 **VANA LIVES**

He had no idea what that meant. Was it a name? Perhaps, for the skeleton thing. He decided to check out the books. All of them were old and worn, and when he opened them he was immediately confronted by an obstacle.

None of them were written in a language he understood. These book's really were old.

After flipping around the pages., he saw that some books would feature drawings.

One showed a knight in black armor and cape, with a helmet resembling that of a skull, wielding a sword, one with a grip covered in thorns from the look of it. The knight was charging into battle against what looked to be a mass of giant, spike covered worms. Another drawing featured what appeared to be a young girl in robes fleeing on horseback from a group of burning, flying skulls.

If there were more drawings, they were probably lost, for the book itself had many torn, ripped pages. The years had not been kind.

The final notable drawing in this book showed the Black Knight and the young girl from earlier, standing side by side. He held out his sword, and she held out a staff wreathed in fire.

In front of them lay a giant red colored hand. In its palm, a black wreathed figure began to rise up, concealed in a black cloak. On a closer look, one could notice that the cloaked figures head was swollen near the top, as though it had expanded.

Then, the book ended. Being late at night, he decided to go to bed. The boy went to his own, bed finally tired himself.

The next day, instead of immediately working on the harvest, he read the books he pulled out.

One book had a drawing of a heart, for 50 pages.

Another consisted of 30 pages of giant, deformed humans eating smaller humans.

Another had the image of man ins silver armor and a skull-like helm charging into battle with an army of knights at his back, battling against another army of knights. The inside of that book was heavily defaced, with scratches, crudely made insults, and drawings of a rude hand-made gesture dotting every page. Whoever found this book before him clearly had no love for it's subject.

Another book contained pages upon pages of drawings of monsters. One image showed what looked like a cross between a lion and a bull, hunched over a river and drinking from it.

Said river was red, with a human limb or two sticking out of it.

Most of the pages contained images of other inhuman beasts partaking in slaughter, either of each other, or of human beings.

Looking back at his book pile, he also opened one book and found it to be hollowed out. Inside of it was a brown, egg shaped thing that appeared to have mismatched facial features sculpted across its surface. Weird. Still, it's not like some random idol would help him decipher the books. Casually, he tossed it behind his back. It banged off the wall before rolling under the bed.

The rest of the books were like that, containing incomprehensible passages of writing and the occasional drawing of a monster.

After all these years of mediocrity, there was just something….fascinating about it. He was actually feeling..excited. Of course, all good things come to an end.

XXX

One week later

Things turned back to normal soon enough. The old man would read the books at night, and the boy would play. The kid notably did not mention anything from that night, likely not interested in it.

On an ordinary afternoon, the boy was grabbing sticks across the farmland. Fall had begun, and they would need the firewood for the coming winter.

The farmer, his mind off of the bizarre discovery from not too long, mulled over whether or not any of the animals on his farm would have to be slaughtered for meat as he dug a new hole.

That's when he felt it.

His heart felt heavy, and then he felt suddenly lightheaded.

At his age, it wasn't that surprising.

With a grunt, the man coughed up a splotch of blood and fell to the ground. He heard a faint noise, someone shouting, then something running towards him.

 _Grandpa!_

He had to give the kid credit.

Dragging him from the fields to the bed was quite the task.

XXX

When two months passed without any sign of him recovering, it was clear to both the boy and the man that it wouldn't be long now, but they never said it out loud. There was no need to.

He just ate and drank what his grandson brought him, knowing that it would be futile in the end. In fact, where most would have given up on him, the boy still did his best to ease the old man's passing.

In fact, he kept a close eye on the boy himself. Despite the situation, the kid was still as quick as ever, running up and down to do the chores of the house by himself.

Seeing the boy so alive, so full of youthful energy, the old man remember his earlier thoughts on the boy.

Wild.

In that moment, he envied the one decades younger than him.

The books provided slight entertainment for him. He may have even enjoyed trying to figure out what was happening from the drawings, even though he only had black and white colored drawings to plot his ideas out. To him, there was a sense of awe at seeing how the figures in the drawings seemed so strong, so powerful.

He wished he could've been like that.

XXX

Inside a bedroom, an old man coughed.

It was his last day.

"...Grandpa?"

 **"Say the words, and we shall grant you a body that will know true power. You shall know no sickness, and the toils of time will not harm you. You will be stronger, faster, just say it!"**

I...

 **I SACRIFICE**

 **XXX**

 _Just as he desired, he felt stronger. Like he could take on the world._

 _It was in the dead of night when the farmhouse exploded in a burst of steam. A primal roar broke the night as something massive, pale-furred and hunched like a bear, strolled out of the ruins._

 _The first thing it felt was hunger. An intense hunger._

 _On its stomach, a giant mouth opened up, mist briefly puffing out as it brought a massive fist down onto the side of a barn._

 _Panicked squeals and grunts were ignored as it reached in and grabbed a good-sized pig, the creature struggling in it's grip as it brought the animal into it's maw._

 _There was an echoing crunch as it's teeth slammed down._

 _Then, the sound of animals screaming in terror as something sticky and red rained on them._

 _The creatures lower mouth gulped down the meat, the pig's other half soon following._

 _Then, the large maw curled up into a smile._

 _More._

 _A few lucky animals managed to run between his legs, scattering off as it forced itself into the barn, crushing a few underfoot as more unlucky animals were scooped into his maw. The barn collapsed around him, a severed leg or in between his teeth. A cow tried to run around him-_

 _Almost on instinct, something long and spiky snapped out of his mouth like a whip, scooping the terrified animal up into his mouth._

 _He walked out of the devastated remains, blood staining his fur. This entire massacre had only gone on for less than five minutes._

 _Still, it's belly was not full._

It walked forwards, now on two legs, drool seeping from both's of it's smiling mouths.

Five eyes looked down on the town below the farm.

Charging forwards, it ran, before leaping from the top of the hill into the town below.

His wild stomp brought him directly onto a small house, killing the inhabitants within nearly instantly.

They were the lucky ones.

XXX

No one was spared. Steam trailed behind him as he stood at the entrance of the village, much shorter now, but his now ape-like face and the blood around him made his role in the carnage clear.

Looking back, he saw the village in ruins. Blood lined the streets. Bodies, some half-eaten, some broken and brutalized like they had been struck by a cannon.

Like many apostles, he finally had a truly coherent thought about what he had just done. About the blood he had spilled and drank. About what he did to get this power.

He wanted to do it again.

No more being a stupid farmer.

No more being sick.

No more being weak.

From now on, there would only be two things for him to strive for.

Enjoyment and Excitement.

Disappearing into the forest, Wyald laughed as he left his old life behind.

XXX

 _For decades, rumors would persist of a beast wandering the massive, deepest forests on the borders of Midland. Of some kind of ape-like thing assaulting all living things who came in it's path._

 _Those who crossed it would be devoured or cruelly torn limb from limb, they said._

 _And if you were a woman? God help you, they said._

 _But the war with Chuder was raging on. Some said that it would last a hundred, maybe even a thousands years. With all this going on, few had the manpower or interest in chasing after a myth._

 _Then, one day, in a place were the worst scum of Midland were gathered, the myth became reality._

 **"Your Highness. On top of that tower I'm giving you a new sculpture."**

XXX

 **"The Black Dog Motto!"**

"Enjoyment and Excitement!"

XXX

"It's Nosferatu Zodd!"

In front of the battle weary Band of the Hawk, a gigantic beast slammed to the ground behind Wyald. It's great wings blocked out the sun as it towered over the bleeding, half blinded ape man.

Compared to the massiver Feline-esque minotaur behind him, Wyald was like a child.

Hefting him up, Zodd was eerily quiet as he impaled Wyald's back onto his horns.

Wyald screamed in agony, holding up Griffith in a shaking hand.

 **"Griffith is going to die! They were wrong he won't be the fifth one-"**

 **"THEN YOU'll DIE FIRST!"**

With a roar, Zodd grabbed onto the impaled apostle and pulled-

XXX

With an agonized shriek, Wyald burst open as he was ripped in two. Griffith slipped out of his hands, onto the ground. Without hesitation, Guts ran forwards to drag his commander to safety. Staring down at the Griffith, Zodd's gaze was pitiless.

"It will return to you. That's is it's nature." Than with a flap of his wings, the apostle was in the air. Steam began to leak from Wyald's shrinking body, creating a smoke like effect as Zodd's wings stirred up the dust and wind in the clearing.

"What is the Eclipse? Does it have something to do with that monkey?"

Zodd glared down at one of the few swordsman to have fought him and live.

His fiery gaze matched Guts expression of rage.

 **"You'll know soon. Very soon."**

Just like that, Zodd was gone in a blast of wind.

"Casca..look!" One young Hawk shakily pointed at Wyald's decaying body.

From between the two torn halves of Wyald's body, twisted, almost snakelike figures rose.

They were all severely decayed, and with a start, Guts recognized one of the twisted figures as one of the many victims Wyald had impaled during his beginning charge.

Among one of the decayed ghost's, there was one with a fleshless head, a lone eyeball hanging out of its socket, and a few long black hairs jutting from it's scalp. This eye turned and stared down at Wyald.

 _Welcome home, Grandfather._

Then, they dragged him down to Hell.

-END

XXX

For eagle eyed viewers, I've left a few surprises.

Some of this stuff mentioned in this chapter will become important later on.

And with school over, I have more time to write.

 **Happy Father's Day!**


End file.
